JC-NRLF 


SB    E57    ISh 


A  MANUAL 


J»  Henry  Senger 


\  A  %r 


A  MANUAL 


OF  THE 


GERMAN  LANGUAGE. 


BY 

AUGUSTUS  KITOFLACH. 


SAN  FRANCISCO: 
PUBLISHED    BY    THE    AUTHOR. 

FOR  SALE  BY  ALL  BOOKSELLERS. 


IN 


Entered  residing  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1879, 

BY  AL'GTJSTIN  KNOFLACH, 
Tu  t"'*e  Cffa?e.af  tlie. Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 

All  rights  reserved. 


Stereotyped  by 
PAINTER  &  CO., 

SAN   FRANCISCO. 


PREFACE. 

The  best  method  of  learning  a  foreign  language  is  that  by 
which  we  learned  our  own  mother  tongue.  The  principle  may 
be  expressed  in  three  words:  "  Practice  before  Theory." 

An  American  child  speaks  English  long  before  it  becomes 
acquainted  with  the  principles  of  the  English  language  or 
knows  as  much  as  the  meaning  of  the  word  "  grammar,"  and 
"language"  forms  at  first  no  more  the  subject  of  theoretical 
instruction  than  eating  or  walking. 

In  the  same  natural  way  an  American,  a  child  or  a 
grown  person,  may  acquire  a  foreign  language.  We  no  longer 
commence  by  teaching  grammatical  forms  before  we  use  them 
in  practice,  but  we  transform  the  class-room  into  a  scene  of 
practical  life,  and  by  the  aid  of  objects  and  pictures  we  pass 
through  its  different  phases  as  if  we  were  actually  living  in 
the  country  whose  language  we  wish  to  learn.  Reading  and 
writing  must,  of  course,  accompany  the  oral  exercises. 

The  superiority  of  this  method  over  all  others  has  been 
demonstrated  by  its  astonishing  results  wherever  it  has  been 
carried  out.  I  have  been  following  it  with  my  pupils  for 
some  time,  and  while  at  first  I  imagined  it  to  be,  at  least  in 
some  of  its  features,  original  with  myself,  I  have  since  had  the 
gratification  to  learn  that  it  had  been  in  successful  practice 
in  many  schools,  and  that  it  is  the  method  approved  by  the 
Prussian  government  for  the  instruction  of  Polish  children 
in  the  German  language  in  the  public  schools  of  the  province 
ofPosen. 


4  PREFACE. 

One  of  the  oiur/v  advantages  of  this  method,  and  one  not 
to  be  undere'stimated,  lies  in  its  being  pleasant  to  learners. 
CliiHrea  never  become  weary,  nay,  they  often  look  disappointed 
when  the  lesson  is  'finished,  and  seem  desirous  to  continue, 
and  to  grown  persons  a  lesson  conducted  in  this  practical 
manner  is  a  pastime  rather  than  a  study. 

In  transferring  the  class-room,  as  it  were,  to  a  foreign 
country,  some  teachers  would  have  English  excluded  entirely 
from  the  course  in  the  foreign  language.  I  do  not  deny  that 
it  may  be  practicable  to  teach  a  foreign  language  by  using  only 
that  same  language,  exclusively,  in  the  class-room;  but  I  have 
found  that  much  time  may  be  saved,  while  no  harm  can  be 
done,  by  explaining  in  English  every  word  or  sentence  spoken 
in  the  foreign  language,  and  I  find  that  my  experience  is  that 
cf  many  other  teachers. 

The  teaching  of  grammar  may  go  hand  in  hand  with  this 
practical  course,  provided  that  we  do  not  teach  principles 
needing  illustration  by  examples  which  are  not  familiar 
beforehand  to  the  pupils  ;  the  forms  and  rules  of  grammar 
must  be  derived  from  the  practical  knowledge  acquired  by 
the  pupils  ;  it  is  they  who  must  be  able  to  give  the  examples. 
Thus,  e.  </.,  we  must  not  teach  rules  on  the  "  Formation  of 
the  Plural,"  and  then  illustrate  them  by  examples,  but  the 
pupils  must  have  spoken  of  hundreds  of  objects  in  the  plural 
number  in  the  conversations,  and  must  have  seen  the  form 
of  the  plural  in  the  reading  lessons,  before  we  call  their 
attention  to  the  formation  of  the  plural  from  the  singular; 
even  as  an  American  child  speaks  of  toys,  dolls,  picture-books, 
horses,  etc.,  long  before  it  knows  that  we  must  "  add  an  s  to 
the  singular,"  or,  in  fact,  long  before  it  knows  what  an  s  is. 

The  amount  of  theory  that  may  accompany  the  practice 
depends,  of  course,  entirely  upon  the  age  and  advancement 


PREFACE.  O 

of  the  pupils.  For  children  a  mere  outline  is  sufficient ;  they 
should  learn  the  correct  forms  by  hearing  them  and  becoming 
accustomed  to  their  use  in  speaking  rather  than  by  remember- 
ing a  rule ;  while  grown  persons,  well  versed  in  English 
grammar,  will  be  materially  benefited  by  having  the  explana- 
tions of  the  principles  of  the  foreign  language  follow  closely 
upon  the  practical  exercises. 

For  this  part  of  the  method,  the  grammar,  I  have  long  felt 
the  want  of  a  book  which  I  could  use  to  advantage  with  my 
pupils  in  the  German  language,  one  which  would  answer  the 
requirements  of  all  classes  of  students.  Many  excellent  works 
have  been  published  in  this  country  for  instruction  in  the 
German  language,  but  they  generally  follow  a  system  of  their 
own,  at  least  in  their  "practical"  parts,  giving  one  portion  of  a 
part  of  speech  here,  and  another  there,  thus  making  it  im- 
perative to  follow  their  method  from  beginning  to  end,  if  one 
expects  to  feel  at  home  in  the  book,  and  they  are  consequently 
not  adapted  for  use  with  my  method  of  teaching. 

I  therefore  concluded  to  write  a  book  for  myself,  and  think- 
ing that  others  may  find  it  useful,  I  have  published  it. 

This  book  contains  no  "  new  method  " ;  it  is  simply  a  plain 
and,  I  hope,  lucid  explanation  of  the  principles  of  the  German 
language,  arranged  in  the  order  usually  followed  by  English 
grammars  and  therefore  familiar  to  the  American  student. 

I  have  carefully  omitted  all  rules  and  classifications  which  I 
deemed  of  no  practical  value;  but  what  I  have  given  may  be 
relied  upon  as  being  compiled  carefully  and  in  accordance  with 
good  usage  and  the  best  authorities.1) 

The  MANUAL  is  not  designed  to  accompany,  exclusively,  my 
method  of  teaching ;  but,  while*  it  is  adapted  to  my  purpose, 
it  may  serve  that  of  any  other  teacher,  whatever  his  method 

1)  £>ei)fc'§  ®cutfd)e  ©cfyulcjrammcittf  (§anno»er)  was,  in  most  cases,  regarded  as  the 
standard  in  the  compilation  of  this  book. 


6  PREFACE. 

may  be ;  the  arrangement  of  the  book  makes  it  practicable  to 
use  any  part  of  its  contents,  and  to  omit  others  or  reserve 
them  for  future  reference ;  it  may,  therefore,  be  used  with 
pupils  in  all  stages  of  advancement;  and  students  who  have 
followed  other  methods  may  find  it  a  handy  book  of  reference, 
in  which  it  is  "  easy  to  find  things." 

It  is  evident  from  the  size  of  the  book  that  it  cannot  con- 
tain an  exhaustive  treatise  on  German  Grammar.  To  claim 
that  for  this  little  volume  would  be  simply  absurd ;  yet  I  feel 
confident  that  from  the  simplified  way  in  which  the  principles 
of  the  language  are  presented,  the  book  will  be  found  sufficient 
for  nearly  all  practical  purposes. 

If  this  little  book  should  be  favorably  received,  I  shall  publish 
similar  MANUALS  for  instruction  in  the  French,  Spanish,  and 
Italian  languages. 

For  this  work,  I  crave  the  indulgence  of  a  forbearing  public. 
It  is  the  first  book  on  the  German  language  ever  published 
on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  Pioneers  do  not  claim  perfection. 

AUGUSTIN  KNOFLACH. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL.,  February,  1879. 


A   FEW   WOEDS    OF   ADVICE 

To  those  who  wish  to  use  this  MANUAL  for  self-instruction. 

In  the  preface  I  have  given  an  outline  of  the  natural  method 
of  teaching  foreign  languages,  which  is  now  in  successful  practice 
in  many  places  and  promises  fair  to  supersede  all  others.  It  is 
evident  that  such  a  method  can  only  he  carried  out  in  public  or 
private  schools,  in  private  classes,  or  with  such  single  students  as 
are  prepared  to  devote  the  necessary  time  to  the  study  of  a  language 
under  a  teacher's  instruction.  There  are,  however,  many  persons 
who  find  it  desirable  to  learn  a  language  by  taking  only  a  limited 
number  of  lessons  or  relying  entirely  upon  their  private  study.  To 
this  class  a  few  words  of  advice  may  be  acceptable. 

For  persons  who  are  thoroughly  versed  in  the  grammar  of  their 
vernacular  and.  endowed  with  a  talent  for  languages  and  who  have 
an  earnest  determination  to  persevere,  it  is  quite  practicable  to  learn  to 
read  and  understand  a  foreign  language  "from  a  book,"  without  assist- 
ance, but  the  success  depends  largely  upon  prosecuting  the  study  in  a 
correct  manner. 

The  principle  "Practice  before  Theory"  holds  good  here,  to  a 
great  extent,  as  well  as  in  the  oral  method  pursued  in  classes. 
Head  the  MANUAL  attentively,  a  few  pages  every  day,  and  make 
yourself  acquainted  with  the  prominent  features  of  declension  and 
conjugation.  You  may  find  it  very  dry,  but  it  will  not  take  you  long  to 
get  through  ;  it  is  not  a  formidable  volume  at  any  rate,  and,  at  least  in 
this  respect,  compares  favorably  with  other  German  grammars.  The 
explanations  are  such  as  will  be  readily  understood  by  any  student 
familiar  with  English  grammar.  At  the  same  time  procure  a  diction- 
ary and  make  yourself  acquainted  with  its  arrangement ;  the  MANUAL 
will  assist  you,  as  it  explains,  in  the  proper  places,  the  features  of 
the  dictionaries  in  common  use. 


ADVICE    TO    LEARNERS. 

Then  take  a  German  Reader,  a  book  used  by  children  in  schools; 
dozens  of  good  German  School-Readers  have  been  published  in  this 
country;  take  a  Second  Reader,  because  First  Readers  often  con- 
tain only  spelling  lessons.  With  dictionary  and  MANUAL  you  will 
manage  to  interpret  the  sense  of  the  little  pieces,  stories,  etc.,  which 
you  find  in  the  Reader.  Take  only  the  pieces  written  in  prose ;  the 
poetry,  however  simple  it  may  be,  contains  idioms  which  you  cannot 
understand  without  explanation.  (By  the  way,  it  may  be  remarked 
here  that  the  learning  by  heart  of  pieces  of  poetry  written  for  children 
is  excellent  practice,  but  the  explanations  of  a  teacher  are  indispensable, 
and  poems  can  form  110  part  of  the  "  self  -instruction  "  of  a  beginner.) 

After  having  made  some  progress  in  the  Reader,  take  a  work  of  fiction 
(one  written  for  German  children  will  be  the  best  to  begin  with)  and 
procure  an  English  translation.  Most  of  these  stories  and  fairy-tales, 
and  all  the  popular  works  of  fiction  by  contemporary  authors  are 
translated  into  English  and  sold  by  all  booksellers.  Read  the  book 
that  you  may  choose,  with  the  translation  by  your  side.  All  words 
whose  meaning  is  not  apparent  from  the  translation  must  be  looked  up 
in  the  dictionary,  and  every  sentence  must  be  looked  over  until  its  sense 
is  understood  without  finding  it  necessary  to  refer  to  the  translation. 
At  the  close  of  every  reading,  the  whole  page  or  pages  must  be  read 
again,  without  looking  at  the  translation,  until  it  is  thoroughly 
understood,  and  when  you  have  finished  a  story  or  a  chapter,  the 
oftener  you  read  it  over,  again  and  again,  the  better.  Some  persons 
may  object  to  the  use  of  translations,  but  if  you  follow  the  above 
instructions  faithfully,  the  results  will  convince  you  of  the  practical 
value  of  the  plan. 

Having  read  one  or  more  books  in  this  manner,  you  will  be  somewhat 
familiar  with  German  reading,  and  then  is  the  proper  time  to  study 
the  MANUAL.  Take  again  a  few  pages  at  a  time ;  you  will  no  longer 
find  it  a  dry  and  hard  study,  but  you  will  recognize  the  forms  in  the 
paradigms  as  old  acquaintances  and  be  able  to  illustrate  the  rules 
by  examples  from  your  own  experience  in  reading.  At  'the  same  time 
continue  your  reading  and  try  to  dispense  with  the  translation,  or  refer 
to  it  only  when  you  find  it  impossible  to  understand  complicated  sen- 
tences or  peculiar  idiomatic  expressions.  There  are  many  who,  in 
reading  a  foreign  language,  are  not  satisfied  with  being  enabled  to 
follow  the  sense,  but  want  to  understand  every  word.  Now,  although 


ADVICE    TO    LEARNERS.  9 

thoroughness  is  very  commendable,  it  may,  like  everything  else,  be 
carried  to  excess.  To  handle  a  dictionary  every  few  minutes  makes 
reading  a  very  laborious  task,  and  often  discourages  the  student  and' 
makes  him  despair  of  ever  being  able  to  read  anything  "for  pleasure". 
If,  in  reading  English,  you  were  required  to  give  a  definition  of  every 
word  you  read,  you  would  often  find  yourself  greatly  puzzled.  In  the 
mother-tongue  one  frequently  passes  an  obscure  sentence  without 
realizing  its  obscurity,  as  long  as  the  general  purport  is  understood, 
while  in  reading  a  foreign  language  one  seems  bound  to  scrutinize  every 
word.  This  is  wrong.  I  would  therefore  advise  you,  from  my  own 
experience  in  studying  English,  to  read  as  much  as  possible  as  soon 
as  you  can  follow  the  sense  and  be  interested  in  what  you  read,  and 
make  only  a  portion  of  your  reading  the  subject  of  a  thorough  study 
with  the  dictionary.  By  and  by,  the  meaning  of  many  words  and 
idioms  will  become  apparent  without  dictionary  by  their  occurring 
repeatedly  and  in  a  different  connection. 

Good  reading  matter  for  beginners  is  furnished  by  the  German 
newspapers  published  in  this  country.  Begin  by  reading  the  telegrams 
and  local  news  items ;  being  familiar  with  the  events  from  your 
English  paper,  you  will  find  them  easy  reading ;  and  while  the  language 
may  not  be  the  best,  it  is  a  source  of  encouragement  to  the  student 
to  understand  what  is  published  for  the  German  public. 

In  order  to  read  German  classics  you  will  find  it  necessary  to  use 
an  edition  with  English  notes,  or  a  translation,  or  both.  ' '  Put  what 
of  that  ?  Where  is  the  American  who-  understands  Shakespeare  at  first 
sight?" 

Finally,  I  would  say,  that  in  pursuing  a  course  of  private  study  you 
will  find  it  more  advantageous  to  study  an  hour  or  even  half  an  hour 
every  day,  than  to  devote  several  hours  to  the  study  at  longer 
intervals.  * '  Nulla  dies  sine  lima. " 


While  I  have  thus  given  it  as  my  opinion,  based  upon  experience, 
that  it  is  possible  to  learn  to  read  and  understand  a  language  by 
self-instruction,  some  assistance  from  a  teacher  will  greatly  facilitate 
the  study,  and  should  be  procured  whenever  practicable.  In  the  first 
place,  you  cannot  acquire  a  good  pronunciation  of  a  foreign  language 
from  a  book,  and  supposing  that  you  wish  to  acquire  only  a  ' '  reading 


10  ADVICE    TO    LEARNERS. 

knowledge",  you  may  find  it  desirable  to  be  able  to  read  aloud.  Then, 
again,  a  teacher  will  help  you  over  the  difficulties  which  you  will 
encounter  in  understanding  your  Reader,  and  you  will  then  much 
sooner  be  able  to  read  a  book  with  the  English  translation  by  your 
side;  while  it  is  evident  that  throughout  the  study  a  teacher's 
guidance  must  materially  further  the  student's  progress.  "With  most 
persons  a  course  of  lessons  is  desirable  from  a  weakness  of  human 
nature.  To  study  a  foreign  language  by  ourselves  alone  is,  at  first, 
very  dry  work,  and  with  the  best  intentions  we  often  find  it  impossible 
to  persevere  and  to  devote  a  certain  time  every  day  to  study,  in  the 
face  of  business  or  other  engagements ;  but  when  we  take  a  regular 
course  of  lessons  from  a  stranger,  well,  then— we  generally  do  what 
we  otherwise  would  probably  not  have  done. 

In  learning  to  ivrite  a  foreign  language  we  must,  of  course,  have 
a  teacher  correct  our  exercises  and  explain  our  mistakes.  Advanced 
students,  however,  will  find  it  excellent  practice  to  translate  German 
into  English,  and  then,  say  in  a  day  or  two,  retranslate  their  English 
into  German,  comparing  this  translation  with  the  original,  and  finding 
their  own  mistakes.  If,  in  following  this  course,  they  try  to  translate 
the  German,  not  literally,  but  into  choice  English,  they  will  find  that 
such  exercises  will  improve  their  style  of  writing  and  give  them  a 
great  facility  of  expression  in  their  own  language. 

As  to  learning  to  speak  German  without  devoting  the  necessary  time 
to  a  practical  course  under  a  teacher,  the  success  depends  mainly  upon 
the  circumstances  in  which  the  student  is  placed.  Decidedly  the  best 
way  is  to  go  to  Germany.  Those  who  are  unable  or  unwilling  to  do 
so,  will  find  in  this  country  abundant  opportunities  of  forming  the 
acquaintance  of  educated  Germans  and  moving  among  them  during 
the  hours  of  leisure;  and,  having  first  acquired  the  ability  to  read 
the  language,  they  will  soon  be  able  to  understand  and,  by  and  by, 
speak  it.  Do  not  feel  discouraged  if  you  find  it  difficult,  in  the 
beginning,  to  understand  the  spoken  language ;  the  ear  requires 
training  ;  and  in  trying  to  speak  be  not  afraid  of  mistakes ;  out  with  it, 
in  any  way.  He  who  dares  not  speak  a  language  until  he  knows 
how  to  speak  it  well,  is  like  the  man  who  did  not  want  to  go 
into  the  water  before  he  knew  how  to  swim.  If  you  have  a  friend 
who  will  take  the  trouble  to  correct  you,  his  assistance  will  prove 
invaluable.  Take  advantage  of  every  opportunity  to  hear  public 


ADVICE    TO    LEARNERS.  11 

speakers,  in  German.  People  who  frequent  places  of  amusement  will 
find  the  German  theatres  (in  San  Francisco  and  all  other  large  cities 
of  the  Union)  excellent  places  to  visit  for  hearing  good  German. 
Occasionally,  humorous  plays  are  produced  in  the  dialect  of  some 
particular  section  of  Germany,  thus  affording  an  opportunity  to  acquaint 
the  ear  with  provincialisms. 

The  value  of  reading,  and,  especially,  of  reading  aloud,  is  generally 
underestimated  by  those  who  direct  their  efforts  toward  speaking  a 
foreign  language.  You  may  often  hear  a  person  say :  "I  can  read 
German  well  enough,  I  want  to  speak  it "  ;  but  when  you  come  to 
inquire  as  to  what  has  been  actually  read,  you  will  generally  find  that 
it  does  not  exceed  one  volume.  If  one  reads  a  dozen  or  two  of  interest- 
ing works  of  fiction,  aloud  if  practicable,  he  will  notice  how  great  an  aid 
reading  is  to  speaking. 

* '  How  long  will  it  take  me  to  learn  German  ? "  is  a  question  with 
which  the  ear  of  every  teacher  is  painfully  familiar.  The  only  answer 
which  can  be  given  is  that  the  time  required  to  learn  a  language 
depends  entirely  on  the  application,  intelligence,  and  linguistic  talent 
on  the  part  of  the  student.  While  some  persons  make  considerable 
progress  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  and  derive  much  practical 
benefit  from  it,  not  only  for  reading,  but  for  business,  travel,  etc., 
others  require  a  much  longer  period  to  attain  any  degree  of  proficiency. 

That  it  is  possible  to  master  a  foreign  language  without  going  to 
the  country  where  it  is  the  vernacular  has,  in  many  instances,  been 
demonstrated  by  Americans  who  have  succeeded  in  learning  to  read, 
write,  and  speak  German  without  leaving  the  United  States.  I  know 
a  lady,  Irish  by  birth,  who  not  only  reads  the  most  abstruse  German 
works  on  Philosophy,  Political  Economy,  the  Sciences,  etc.,  with  the 
greatest  facility,  as  if  they  were  written  in  English,  but  also  speaks 
the  language  with  remarkable  fluency,  and  who  has  acquired  this 
knowledge  within  the  limits  of  the  city  of  San  Francisco. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

THE  ALPHABET 15 

PRONUNCIATION 18 

Vowels,  20 ;  Modified  Vowels,  20 ;  Diphthongs,  21 ;  Consonants,  21 ;  Com- 
pound Consonants,  23;  Syllabication,  24 ;  Quantity  of  Syllables— Accent, 
25 ;  Punctuation,  26. 

THE  NOUN  AND  ARTICLE 28 

Gender,  28 ;  Formation  of  the  Plural,  30 ;  Cases,  32 ;  Declension  of  the 
Article,  33 ;  Declension  of  Nouns,  34 ;  Proper  Nouns,  40. 

THE  ADJECTIVE 42 

Comparison  of  Adjectives,  48. 

THE  NUMERAL 50 

Cardinal  Numbers,  50 ;  Ordinal  Numbers,  51. 
THE  PRONOUN 52 

Personal  Pronouns,  52 ;  Possessive  Pronouns,  54 ;  Demonstrative  Pronouns, 
56 ;  Determinative  Pronouns,  57 ;  Relative  Pronouns,  59 ;  Interrogative 
Pronouns,  CO ;  Indefinite  Pronouns,  62. 

THE  VERB G4 

Auxiliary  Verbs,  65;  Regular  Verbs,  72;  Reflexive  Verbs,  78;  Impersonal 
Verbs,  79 ;  Compound  Verbs,  80 ;  Irregular  Verbs,  83 ;  List  of  Irregular 
Verbs,  87 ;  Remarks  on  the  Verb,  98. 

THE  ADVERB 105 

THE  PREPOSITION 107 

Government  of  Adjectives  and  Verbs,  110. 

THE  CONJUNCTION 112 

THE  INTERJECTION 114 

ARRANGEMENT  OP  WORDS 115 


g  f        ^/  ef          £>  0 
F  f  /  O     o 


THE    ALPHABET. 

The  German  Alphabet  consists  of  twenty-six  letters,  the 
forms  of  which,  capital  and  small,  in  print  and  in  writing,  are 
as  follows  : 

ta 

A     a 

33  b    ^:  ^   ba 

B     b  K    k 

&  C        l/?^       tsa         2  I        ±£r 'S    el 

C    c  LI 

2)  b    ^^^  da     9S  m 

D     d  Mm 


a  j/f  u      ^x/c   ^*.      en 

E    e          fO  N     n 


o ,-  ^  ^        P  •: ; 


cr   7         ^-  ^     ha  i>  V|       ^^  «       koo 

H  h     ^V^  Q  q  /    / 

3^  •  $ft  Y  (^? 

I        Q/  *          e  vl  i  ^xz,  ^        er 

I     i  E  r 

*)  The  marks  used  in  showing,  approximately,  the  names  of  the  letters,  in  German, 
are  those  used  in  Webster's  Dictionary. 


THE    ALPHABET. 


ft 

U  11 

u   u  Y     y  Ion 


MODIFIED  VOWELS. 

(Umlaute.) 


a 

Ae    a  Oe     6 

Uefi 

Tie    ii 


DIPHTHONGS. 


at  ^_         gi  et 

Ai      ai  Ei      ei 


fou  ^^      tset 

/I       Z 


ail 

Au       au 

ffiit  eu  ^-_-    aen  dii 

Eu      eu     £7  Aeu       au. 


THE    ALPHABET.  17 

COMPOUND   CONSONANTS. 


@Dft> 

Sp     sp 


ss  /x  sz 


@t  ft 

St      st 

ty 

th 


Sch       sch    c^x     '  tz 


REMARKS  ON  THE  ALPHABET. 

Nouns  and  words  used  as  nouns  begin  with  a  capital, 
proper  adjectives  begin  with  a  small  .letter;  as,  trie  beutfcfjC 
©pracfje,  the  German  language.  Observe  that  ©pracfje, 
language,  being  a  noun,  begins  with  a  capital,  while  the 
proper  adjective  beut[d),  German,  begins  with  a  small  letter. 
Adjectives,  however,  which  are  derived  from  the  names  of 
persons  or  places  are  often  written  with  a  capital  initial ;  as, 

$onttfd)e  s]3()tlofopl)te,  Kant's  Philosophy;  getpgiger  sJJ?effe,  Leip- 
sic  fair. — All  words  beginning  a  sentence  or  a  line  of  poetry 
begin  with  a  capital  letter. 

The  long  form  of  6-,  f,  is  used  at  the  beginning  or  in  the 
middle  of  a  syllable  (see  "  Syllabication,"  page  24) ;  at  the  end 
of  a  syllable  we  use  the  short  form,  $•  as,  jo,  so  ;  Ie  fdt,  to  read; 
at3,  when,  than. 

Some  writers  use  short  §  in  the  middle  of  a  syllable  before  t;  as,  cr  Ue3t,  he  reads. 
(See  page  84.) 


18  PRONUNCIATION. 

There  are  two  forms  for  double  s,  (f  and  {3  ;  ff  is  used 
between  two  vowels,  if  the  vowel  that  precedes  the  double  * 
is  short  ;  in  all  other  cases  we  must  use  $  (commonly  called  fj, 
es-tset;  "sharp  s"  would  be  a  more  appropriate  name);  as, 
toff  en,  to  let;  effen,  to  eat;  tjiffen,  to  hoist;  g;loffen,  fins; 
miiffen,  to  be  obliged.  In  these  words,  the  vowel  preceding 
double  s  is  short,  and  we  therefore  use  the  form  ff  ;  but  in 
beiften,  to  bite;  fpafjjen,  to  joke;  ftoften,  to  push,  the  vowel 
is  long,  and  we  must  use  the  form  j}.  The  same  form  is 
used  in  bd§,  that  (conjunction),  guf;,  foot,  9iu§,  nut,  er  ijft, 
he  eats,  etc.,  because  in  these  words  double  s  does  not  stand 
between  two  vowels. 

Some  writers  use  ff  in  the  middle  of  a  syllable  before  t;  as,  ct  lift,  he  eats.  (See 
page  84.) 


Words  like  bci$felbe,  the  same;  dilSfc^en,  to  expose,  form  no 
exceptions  to  the  foregoing  rules,  baSfclbe  being  a  compound 
of  bd$  and  felbe,  mt^fe^en  of  au$  and  fe^en,  and  words  ending 
in  $  retaining  that  form  of  the  s  in  composition. 


PRONUNCIATION. 

The  pronunciation  of  the  German  language  presents  few 
difficulties  when  compared  with  the  English.  The  spelling 
is  almost  phonetic,  i.  e.,  every  letter  either  retains  its  own 
peculiar  sound  under  all  circumstances,  or,  where  its  sound 
differs  according  to  its  position  or  combination  with  other 
letters,  we  are  governed  by  general  rules;  and  the  student, 
under  the  guidance  of  a  teacher,  or  by  the  aid  of  any  educated 
German,  where  no  teacher  be  available,  will  find  it  very  easy 
to  acquire  a  reasonably  good  pronounciation  in.  a  very  short 
time. 


PRONUNCIATION.  19 

By  saying  that  an  American  will  speak  German  with  a  "reasonably  good  "  pronun- 
ciation, we  mean  that  he  will  be  understood  in  all  parts  of  Germany,  and  that  his 
pronunciation  will  not  offend  the  ears  of  educated  Germans,  which  is  all  that  id 
required  of  a  foreigner  or,  in  fact,  of  any  native  German.  In  regard  to  the  sound  of 
certain  letters,  such  as  the  open  or  closed  sound  of  e,  the  sound  of  ch,  g,  r,  s,  and 
others,  and  many  other  <l  shades"  in  the  pronunciation,  we  must  say  that  the  practice 
is  not  uniform  in  tha  different  parts  of  Germany,  and  that  there  is  no  "standard," 
no  German  Webster  or  Worcester  to  refer  to  in  disputed  cases.  The  difference  in 
pronunciation  is  not,  as  is  often  asserted,  confined  to  the  uneducated;  the  most 
cultured  persons  and  even  professional  speakers  generally  betray,  by  their  enuncia- 
tion, in  what  part  of  Germany  they  were  born  or  educated,  and,  although  it  is 
conceded  that  the  pronunciation  in  the  North  of  Germany  is  much  better  than  it  is 
in  the  South,  there  is  no  one  place  whose  inhabitants  pronounce  the  language  in  a 
manner  which  is  acknowledged,  by  universal  consent,  ai  the  correct  one,  and  as  tho 
one  to  be  imitated,  in  every  particular,  by  all  good  speakers.  The  same  state  of 
affairs  exists,  more  or  less,  in  all  countries  of  the  European  continent,  and  it  is 
an  indisputable  fact  that  the  elements  of  language  arid  their  formation  by  the  organs 
of  speech  have  been  tho  subject  of  a  much  more  thorough  study  by  English  and 
American  orthoepists  than  by  the  linguists  of  any  other  country.  While  it  is  thus 
impossible  for  any  teacher  or  grammarian  to  impart  such  a  pronunciation  of  the 
German  language  a3  would  not  be  liable  to  criticism  from  some  quarters,  the 
American  student  is,  practically,  not  concerned  by  these  local  differences.  He  should 
adopt  the  pronunciation  taught  by  his  teacher,  or  his  grammar,  and  adhere  to  it. 
A  slight  "provincialism"  is,  and  in  the  absence  of  a  standard  must  be,  forgiven  to  the 
most  educated  native  German,  and  it  will  be  the  more  readily  excused  in  a  foreigner 
speaking  the  German  language. 

When  comparing  the  sounds  of  the  German  with  those  of  the  English  letters, 
we  must  observe  that  the  manner  of  producing  the  sounds  of  many  letters  which 
are  usually,  in  English-German  grammars,  classed  as  identical  in  both  languages, 
really  differs  to  a  remarkable  extent;  thus,  e.  g.,  German  b,  d,  or  soft  s  is  not  by 
any  means  identical  with  English  b,  d,  or  z,  respectively ;  for  the  reason  that  the 
German  (or  any  other  continental)  language  does  not  draw  so  accurate  a  line  of 
distinction  between  the  aspirated  and  vocalized  consonant  sounds  as  the  English  lan- 
guage, a  fact  which  is  in  a  great  measure  responsible  for  the  "accent"  betraying  the 
foreigners  when  speaking  English.  However,  as  this  little  volume  is  not  a  treatise  on 
orthoepy,  and  the  space  allowed  to  pronunciation  must  necessarily  be  very  small,  tho 
foregoing  remarks  are  only  directed  to  those  particularly  interested  in  pronunciation  ; 
to  the  general  student  we  will  say  : 

When,  in  the  following  list,  the  pronunciation  of  a  letter  is 
not  commented  upon,  or  when  its  sound  is  said  to  be  the  same 
as  in  English,  it  is  to  be  inferred  that  its  pronunciation  is  very 
similar  to  the  English,  if  not  identical  in  both  languages. 


20  PRONUNCIATION. 

VOWELS. 

21,  Cl,  lias  always  the  sound  of  a  \nfather;  when.  short,  it  retains 

the  same  sound  and  must  not  be  pronounced  like  a  in 

mid;  gaben,  thread;  33fatt,  leaf. 
S,  C,  has  either  a  close  sound,  like    English  long  a  (without 

the  vanish  in  e),  as  the  first  a  in  Adriatic  ;  Ittefyr,  more; 

or  its  sound  is  open,  like  a  in  care  ;  toer,  who. 

Whether  the  e  has,  in  a  given  word,  its  close  or  its  open  sound  must  be  learned 
by  practice  or  by  referring  to  a  pronouncing  dictionary.  But  as  the  pronunciation 
of  this  letter  is  not  uniform  in  the  different  parts  of  Germany,  it  is  not  of  much  conse- 
quence whether  it  is  sounded  a  trifle  more  close  or  open. 

Short  e  sounds  like  e  in  ken  ;  f  ett,  fat  ;  C  final  has  the  same 
sound,  but  is  pronounced  very  short  ;  Gllbc,  end  ;  C  in  the 
middle  of  a  final  syllable  is  scarcely  heard  ;  Icfen,  to  read. 

Q,  i,  has  always  the  sound  of  e  in  me  ;  OQCl,  hedgehog;  when 
short,  the  element  is  the  same;  Shin,  sense.  An  e  follow- 
ing t  in  the  same  syllable  only  lengthens  the  sound  of  i 
and  has  no  sound  of  its  own;  £iebc,  love. 

O,  0,  has  always  the  sound  of  the  English  long  o  (without  the 
vanish  in  oo),  as  the  first  o  in  opinion.  "When  German 
0  is  short,  it  retains  this  sound  and  must  not  be  pro- 
nounced like  o  in  on;  9tofc,  rose;  foitllttCU,  to  come. 

U,  It,  when  long,  sounds  like  o  in  do  ;  §ltt,  hat  ;  when  short, 
like  u  in  full  ;  £wttb,  dog. 

9),  t),  is  always  a  vowel,  occurs  only  in  foreign  words,  and  is 
pronounced  like  i  ;  (Styrilp,  sirup. 


MODIFIED  VOWELS. 

The  letters  a,  0,  and  u  are  liable  to  a  "  modification  "  of 
their  original  sounds,  which  is  called  Ulttlciltt.  This  change  in 
sound  is  indicated  by  placing  an  c  after  them  when  they  are 
capitals,  and  by  placing  two  dots  or  little  strokes  over  them 


PRONUNCIATION.  21 

when  they  are  small  letters :   a,  0,  it.       Some  use   the  dots 

also  on  capitals. 

2te,  a,  when  long,  has  the  sound  of  open  C ;  when  short,  that 
of  short  e  ;  fpcit,  late  ;  alter,  older. 

Oe,  0,  has  no  equivalent  in  English.  Its  sound  is  similar  to 
that  of  the  French  eu,  and  may  be  produced  by  placing 
the  lips  in  the  position  for  pronouncing  long  o,  and  then, 
without  in  the  least  changing  the  position  of  the  lips, 
trying  to  utter  the  sound  of  a  in  ale  ;  the  sound  resulting 
from  this  operation  will  be  that  of  the  German  0 ;  ()0ren,  to 
hear;  £opfe,  pots. 

Ue,  it,  has  no  equivalent  in  English.  It  sounds  like  the  French 
uy  and  may  be  produced  by  placing  the  lips  in  the 
position  proper  for  pronouncing  oo,  and  then,  without 
altering  the  position  of  the  lips,  trying  to  utter  the  sound 
of  e;  £)itge{,  hill;  SDWtCer,  miller.  (See  Webster's  Un- 
abridged Dictionary,  Edition  1878,  page  1634). 

When,  in  this  book,  we  state  that  in  certain  cases  the  root  of  words  takes  the  Umlaut, 
it  is,  of  course,  understood  that  this  can  take  place  only  when  the  vowel  of  the  root 
is  a,  o,  u  (or  au,  see  "  Diphthong's"). 

DIPHTHONGS. 

2ft,  at,  and  Gi,  ei,  sound  like  i  in  die;  @mtc,  string,  ©ette,  side. 
2ltt,  ait,  has  the  sound  of  English  ou  in  house  ;  §au§,  house. 
(Sit,  Clt,  and  Sleit,  CM,  sound  like  oi  in  oil;  (Me,  owl;  £)aitfer, 
houses. 

CONSONANTS. 
S3,  b,  at  the  end  of  a  syllable  sounds  harder  than  English  b, 

but  not  so  hard  as  p  \  8etb,  body ;  abgefyen,  to  go  off. 
(5,  c,  before  e,  t,  a,  0,  and  t)  is  pronounced  like  ts  (the  German  g) ; 

Gtcett),  Safar ;  in  all  other  cases  like  k ;  Sato,  ©OCtor. 


22  PRONUNCIATION. 

The  spelling  is  not  always  uniform,  and  wordj  not  found  in  the  dictionary  under  G 
should  be  looked  for  under  3  or  $,  as  the  case  may  be,and  vice  versa. 

£),  b,  at  the  end  of  a  syllable  sounds  harder  than  English  d, 
but  not  so  hard  as  t ;  utlb,  and ;  finblttf),  filial. 

@,  g,  when  not  standing  at  the  beginning  of  a  syllable  and 
not  preceded  by  n,  is  in  many  parts  of  Germany  pro- 
nounced like  d)  (which  see  under  "Compound  Consonants"); 
£ftg,  day,  is  sounded  like  Z&d)  ]  we  would  recommend 
that  it  should  be  always  sounded  like  the  English  g  in 
get,  except  when  it  is  preceded  by  i,  and  occurs  either 
at  the  end  of  a  word  or  is  followed  by  a  consonant ; 
pronounce  $dntg,  king,  $OtttgtI)Um,  royalty,  as  if  they 
were  spelled  fiontd),  $onid)tf)imt  ;  but  pronounce  ^ontgitt, 
queen,  with  the  sound  of  g,  not  Sontdfytn. 

£),  f),  at  the  beginning  of  a  syllable  is  aspirated  as  in  English ; 
between  two  vowels,  the  aspiration  is  very  slight  or  often 
not  heard  at  all ;  fcfjen,  to  see  ;  in  the  middle  or  at  the 
end  of  a  syllable  it  is  silent,  but  serves  to  indicate  that 
the  vowel  standing  before  it  is  long ;  fcf)t,  very ;  rof), 
crude ;  9?atl),  counsel. 

Q,  I,  has  the  sound  of  English  y  consonant;  {a,  yes;  jltltg, 
young. 

$,  f,  must  be  sounded  before  n ;   $na&C,  boy. 

9?,  n,  has  never  the  sound  of  n  in  finger ;  the  ng  in  the 
German  word  finger  must  be  pronounced  like  ng  .in 
singer. 

9?,  V,  is  always  trilled;  3M)r,  cane;  fd)drrcn,  to  scrape. 

Some  Americans  find  it  difficult  to  trill  the  r,  especially  at  the  end  of  a  syllable. 
Put  the  throat  in  a  position  as  if  you  wanted  to  "gargle";  then,  while  forcibly 
emitting  vocalized  breath  through  the  inouth,  not  the  nose,  approach  the  tip  of  the 
tongue  to  the  palate,  above  the  gums,  and  cause  it  to  move  in  rapid  vibration.  By 
repeating  this  exercise  occasionally,  you  will  soon  be  able  to  trill  the  r  wherever  it 
may  occur. 


PRONUNCIATION.  23 

A  vowel  followed  by  r  has  always  its  original  sound  and 
must  not  be  pronounced  like  e  in  term,  i  in  girl,  etc. 

(£>,  f,  when  it  occurs  at  the  beginning  of  a  syllable  and 
is  followed  by  a  vowel,  has  the  sound  of  English  z  ;  as, 
fettt,  to  be;  @eele,  soul.  When  it  stands  between  two 
vowels,  it  also  has  the  sound  of  z,  because  it  begins  a 
syllable  (see  "Syllabication");  lefcn,  to  read.  Otherwise 
it  sounds  like  s;  @ra$,  grass. 

5£,  t,  followed  by  t  and  another  vowel,  sounds  like  ts,  (the 
German  3)  ;  9?eftgnatton,  resignation. 

£fy,  tl),  sounds  like  t,  the  English  sound  of  th  being  unknown 
in  the  German  language. 

33,  t),  sounds  like  f;  tUCt,  four;  in  words  taken  from  foreign 
languages  like  v  ;  33etlC,  vein. 

28,  ft),  sounds  like  English  v  ;  SBettt,  wine. 

Tho  lower  lip  is  not  pressed  so  hard  to  the  upper  teeth  as  in  English  ;  German  n> 
has  in  reality  a  sound  lying  between  v  and  w,  and  is  a  sort  of  compromise  between 
the  two  ;  "  it  is  a  v  uttered  with  the  lips  alone  without  the  aid  of  the  teeth  ". 
(Webster's  Unabridged  Dictionary,  Edition  1878,  page  1G34,  §30).  However,  you  will 
not  materially  injure  your  pronunciation  by  giving  it  the  sound  of  English  v. 

3,  3,  sounds  like  ts  in  prints;  ^Prinj,  prince  ;  ,3dljn,  tooth. 


COMPOUND  CONSONANTS. 

Sf),  d),  preceded  by  a,  0,  or  11,  has  the  sound  of  ck  in  the 
Scotch  word  loch.  When  it  begins  a  word,  or  is  preceded 
by  any  other  letter,  its  sound  is  less  guttural. 

This  difference  in  the  pronunciation  of  d)  is  a  natural  consequence  of  the  position 
of  the  organs  of  speech  in  producing  the  sound  that  precedes  the  d)  ;  pronounce,  e.  g.t 
ah,  oh  ooh,  and  aspirate  the  h  as  in  the  word  horse,  or  as  much  stronger  as  you  can  ; 
you  will  then  produce  the  guttural  d)  as  heard  in  the  words  nad),  after;  Iad)en,  to  laugh; 
fiod),  hole;  podjcn,  to  knock;  23udj,  book;  fudjen,  to  look  for.  But  if  you  say  ah,  eh,  and 
aspirate  the  h  as  above,  the  aspiration,  i.  e.,  the  sound  of  d)  will  be  moved  fonvard  to 
tho  palate,  and  you  then  have  the  d)  as  heard  in  redjt,  right;  id),  I;  Sidjt,  light  ;  also  in 
©olmdjen,  little  son;  <K6Scfyeti,  little  rose. 

The  proper  pronunciation  of  dj  should  be  learned  from  a  teacher. 


24  PRONUNCIATION. 

In  words  from  the  French,  cf)  is  pronounced  like  sh  ;  Gfymfe, 

chaise.      In  other  foreign  words  it  is  generally  pronounced 

like  k;  Sfjarcrf'ter,  character. 

df)$  in  primitive  words  sounds  like  x ;  £ad)$,  salmon ; 
ftddjfen,  to  grow;  but  in  derivatives  in  which  s  forms 
no  part  of  the  radical,  the  ft)  has  its  proper  sound  * 
tt>ad)fcmt,  watchful,  from  toacijen,  to  watch  ;  also,  e.  g.,  in 
£ad)$  (abbrev.  from  £acfye$),  the  genitive  case  of  £adf), 
roof;  but  in  !Dad)3,  badger,  the  d)3  is  pronounced  like  x. 

<£d),  fcf),  is  pronounced  like  sh ;  ©cfyiff,  ship. 

(f  and  $  have  the  hissing  sound  of  s;  et  tftt,  he  eats,  (ifre 
f  in  cr  tft,  he  is,  although  the  same  element,  is  not  so 
strongly  hissed). 

@p,  fp,  and  St,  ft,  when  they  occur  at  the  beginning  of  a 
word,  are  pronounced  somewhat  like  slip,  slit,  but  the 
sound  of  sh  is  much  less  full  than  the  English  sh,  the 
tongue  remaining  near  the  gums;  fptelcn,  to  play;  fteljCH, 
to  stand.  This  pronunciation  is  the  standard  accepted  by 
all  actors  on  the  German  stage,  but  in  many  pails  of 
the  North  of  Germany  the  f  in  these  compositions  is 
pronounced  with  the  sound  of  s,  and  ihe  student  may 
decide  for  himself  as  to  which  pronunciation  he  wishes 
to  adopt. 

£  is  pronounced  like  g;  351%  lightning. 

SYLLABICATION. 

The  division  of  the  syllables  of  a  word  follows  certain  rules, 
without  regard  to  the  "  root  "  or  derivation  of  a  word. 

1. — A  consonant  between  two  vowels  forms  a  syllable  with 
the  vowel  following  it ;  as,  33cUreit,  bears,  although  derived 
from  33tiV,  bear. 


PRONUNCIATION.  25 

2. — Of  two  consonants  between  two  vowels,  one  forms  a 
syllable  with  the  preceding,  the  other  with  the  following 
vowel ;  2tr*me,  arms,  (from  2{rm,  arm) ;  gam-mcr,  lambs, 
(from  ?dmm,  lamb). 

Compound  consonants  are  treated  as  simple  ones  ;  as,  <Sa=$e,  thing;  St=pfet,  apple; 
ttft^Ctt,  to  be  useful,  ff  is  a  double  consonant  and  is  only  classed  with  the  compounds 
to  compare  its  use  with  that  of  ^ ;  we  therefore  divide  it  between  two  vowels ;  as, 
eHen,  to  eat. 

When  the  vowel  preceding  a  consonant  is  short,  the  consonant  is  pronounced  with 
the  first  syllable  (or,  actually,  with  both)  without  regard  to  the  above  rule  ;  as,  ftafcfyen 
is  pronounced  tt»afcf);en (wafcfysfdjen/  as  washing  in  English);  but  when  the  preceding 
vowel  is  long,  the  pronunciation  coincides  with  the  division  of  syllables  in  writing ;  as, 
nntsfdjen. 

3. — In  compound  words  the  component  parts  are  separated 
without  regard  to  the  above  rules;  as,  Sluc^dpfel,  eye-ball; 
©Olb-dtttfel,  yellow  thrush.  This  is  the  case  with  all  prefixes  ; 
as,  cr-tmtern,  to  remind. 

QUANTITY  OF  SYLLABLES.— ACCENT. 

All  syllables  containing  a   double  vowel,  a  diphthong,  it, 
or  a  silent  I),   are  long;   2fol,   eel;  £)eer,  army;  33oot,  boat; 
n,  without;  retftett,  to  tear;  gtotmb,  friend;  ©ptel,  play; 
!,  number;  SJJJlltf),  courage. 
All  syllables  containing  a  simple  vowel  followed  by  a  double 
consonant  (or  the  compounds  (f  and  ^)  are  short ;  fatten,   to 
fall;  £)err,  Mr.,  or  gentleman;  cffen,    to  eat;  locfcn,  to  allure; 

fei^cn,  to  place. 

When  it  cannot  be  determined  from  these  rules  whether  a 
given  syllable  is  long  or  short,  its  quantity  is  best  learned 
by  practice  or  reference  to  a  dictionary  in  which  the  pronuncia- 
tion is  marked. 

The  German  language  has  a  primary  and  a  secondary  accent 
as  the  English. 

The  primary  accent  lies  on  the  radical  syllable  of  a  word;  as,  tjc'boi, 
give  (you),  from  gebeit,  to  give  ;  and  ©cbcf,  prayer,  from  bcten,  to  pray. 


26  PRONUNCIATION. 

EXCEPTIONS:  Many  foreign  words;  as  2tb»ofaf,  lawyer;  words  with  the  prefix  utt; 
as,  un'cjlurfltcfc,  unhappy ;  nouns  ending  in  et,  and  a  few  other  words ;  as  ^interei', 
childishness,  lefcen'btoj,  alive ;  verbs  ending  in  iren ;  as,  fhibi'ren,  to  study ;  verbs  with 
separable  prefixes  and  words  derived  from  such  verbs ;  as,  an'fancjcn,  to  begin,  2ln'- 
faiKjer,  beginner;  (see  "Compound  Verbs"). 

Many  words  have,  besides  the  primary,  a  secondary  accent,  especially 
compounds  of  two  nouns,  which  have  the  primary  accent  on  the  first, 
the  secondary  on  the  second  word;  as,  23Iu"men3ar'ten,  flower-garden, 
@ar"tenblil'me,  garden-flower. 

The  accent  in  German  words  presents  no  difficulty  to  the 
American  student ;  it  is  learned  from  practice  better  than 
from  rules ;  and  all  good  dictionaries  mark  the  accented 
syllables,  at  least  those  having  the  primary  accent. 


PUNCTUATION. 

The  punctuation-marks  are  nearly  the  same  as  in  English 
and  are  used  pretty  much  in  the  same  manner. 

At  any  rate,  an  elaborate  treatise  on  punctuation  is  barred  by  the 
size  of  this  book.  We  shall  only  note  two  cases  of  the  use  of  the 
comma,  in  which  it  differs  in  German  from  the  English,  and  in  which 
its  omission  or  improper  use  would  be  particularly  objectionable. 

All  subordinate  sentences  are,  in  German,  set  off  by  commas ;  e.  g. , 
ber  §err,  ben  vgte  fafjen,  ift  mem  23ruber,  the  gentleman  that  you  saw 
is  my  brother ;  ic!)  ttmg,  bdfi  er  fommen  ttrirb,  I  know  that  he  will  come. 
We  readily  perceive  that,  in  English,  a  comma  before  that,  in  either 
of  these  examples,  would  be  very  much  out  of  place. 

In  such  expressions  as:  ber  $atcr,  bie  2ftittter  nub  bte  $htber,  the 
father,  (the)  mother,  and  (the)  children,  no  comma  is  placed  before 
Ullb  (and). 

The  quotation  marks  have  this  form :  „ — " ,  the  first  part 
being  placed  on  the  line  of  writing. 

The  German  hyphen  (*)  is  used  to  divide  the  syllables  of  a 
word  at  the  end  of  a  line.  Compound  nouns,  consisting  of 
one  or  more  German  nouns,  are  not  usually  divided  by  a  hyphen. 
The  hyphen  is  only  used  when  one  or  more  parts  of  the  composi- 


PRONUNCIATION.  27 

tions  are  foreign  words ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  give  rules,  because 
the  practice  is  not  uniform.  When  two  or  more  words  are 
compounded  with  the  same  word,  the  hyphen  may  be  used  to 

avoid  repetition;  as,  ber  SMumen*,  Dbft-  unb  ©emufegcirten,  the 

flower,  fruit,  and  vegetable  garden. 

The  German  print  has  no  italics;  where  in  English  the 
italics  are  used,  the  Germans  either  "space"  the  letters  or 
use  quotation  marks,  as  the  case  may  require. 

The  section-mark,  §  ,  is  called  *iJ3(tt*CigrClpl)' }  what  is  called 
paragraph  in  English  ("new  line")  is  generally  called  3lbfalj  in 
German. 

A  few  abbreviations : 

Slum Slnmerfung remark ; 

iX  I) bd3  I)dpt namely; 

b.  t bd$  ift that  is; 

b.  -3? btefe$  $al)re$ of  this  year ; 

b.  9Jf btefeS  SKonatS of  this  month; 

$r gr<W Mrs.,  lady; 

£)r. £)err Mr.,  sir ; 

I -Ke$ read; 

Ob Ober or; 

f fiel) see ; 

It unb and; 

u.  bgl unb  bergletcfjen and  the  like; 

tt-f'f IWb  [0  fort land  so  forth; 

u.  f.  to.. .- unb  fo  toetter ; 

JC etc. ; 

g.  S3 gum  SSeifptel .  ...  for  example. 


28  THE    NOUN    AND   ARTICLE. 

THE   NOUN   AND   ARTICLE. 
(S5a$  £>aupttt>ort  and  £)er  2lrttfel  or  £)a$  ©efrfjlccfytSftort.) 

GENDER. 

The  German  language  has  three  genders,  as  the  English,  the 
masculine,  feminine,  and  neuter;  but  while  in  English,  as  a 
•  rule,  the  masculine  and  feminine  genders  apply  only  to  animate 
beings,  in  German  many  inanimate  objects  are  masculine  or 
feminine  and  others  neuter ;  while,  again,  a  few  nouns  desig- 
nating persons  are  neuter. 

It  is  of  great  importance  to  know  the  gender  of  a  German 
noun,  for  not  only  do  the  pronouns  agree  in  gender  with  the 
nouns  in  whose  place  they  stand,  as  they  do  in  English  (in  the 
third  person  only),  but  articles,  and  adjectives  also,  have,  in 
many  instances,  a  different  form  for  the  three  genders  and  must 
agree  in  gender,  number,  and  case  with  the  nouns  they  qualify 
or  limit.  Thus,  e.  </.,  while  the  definite  article  the  remains  un- 
changed without  regard  to  the  gender  of  the  noun  which  it  lim- 
its, we  have  in  German  the  form  bcr  for  the  masculine,  blC  for 
the  feminine,  b&3  for  the  neuter. 

The  best,  in  fact  the  only  way  to  learn  the  gender  of  nouns 
is  by  practice  or,  in  case  of  doubt,  "by  referring  to  a  diction- 
ary. All  dictionaries  give  the  genders  of  nouns,  usually  by 
placing  the  letter  m.,  f.  or  n.  (masculine,  feminine,  or  neuter) 
after  them.  If  we  form  the  habit,  in  learning,  never  to  men- 
tion the  German  name  of  anything  without  accompanying  it 
by  the  definite  article  ber,  bic,  or  ba3,  as  the  case  may  be,  our 
ear  will  soon  be  trained  to  a  perception  of  the  proper  gender. 
To  the  question,  e.  cj.\  "What  is  table  in  German?"  we  must 
not  answer:  "  Ta&Je  is  £ifd)  ",  but,  "  table  is  b  e  V  Zi]d)  " ;  thus 
also,  "JMI  is  bte  3tber,  book  is  ba3  33ud)  ",  and  if  we  have 


THE    NOUN   AND   ARTICLE.  29 

said,  heard,  or  read  a  number  of  times  bet  £tfd)  for  the  table, 
etc.,  our  ear  will  tell  us  that  it  would  be  wrong  to  say  b  t  e  Zi\d) 
or  b  a  §  Stfd),  etc. 

"  How  is  it,"  the  beginner  will  ask,  "  that  inanimate  objects  should  have  a  gender 
other  than  neuter?"  "  What  sense  is  there  in  making  table  masculine,  pen  feminine, 
and  book  neuter  ? "  This  is  a  peculiarity  of  the  German  language,  and  it  would  be 
wrong  to  give  them  another  gender,"  is  the  only  answer  we  can  give  you.  And  we  may 
ask,  for  instance,  "Why  do  we,  in  English,  speak  of  a  ship  in  the  feminine  gender?" 

"  And  are  there  no  rules  for  determining  the  gender  of  nouns  ?  "  Yes,  there  are  ; 
but  we  do  not  advise  you  to  leani  them  and  therefore  omit  them.  All  rules  in  regard 
to  gender  will,  invariably,  bewilder  the  student  instead  of  aiding  him.  They  do  not, 
and  can  not,  include  all  nouns  of  the  language,  and  as  far  as  they  go,  they  are  subject 
to  so  many  exceptions  as  to  render  them  practically  worthless ;  nay,  they  are  even  hurt, 
fill,  because  they  lead  the  student  to  stop  to  think  of  a  rule,  where  his  ear  alone  should 
guide  him. 

We  hold  that  the  gender  of  nouns,  in  German,  offers  neither  more  nor  fewer  diffi- 
culties to  the  American  student  than  are  encountered  by  a  foreigner  in  trying  to  master 
the  pronunciation  of  the  English  language.  He  may  acquire  a  correct  utterance  of  the 
sounds,  but  only  practice  or  the  dictionary  will  teach  him  what  sounds  are  represented 
in  a  given  word  or  how  words  spelled  alike  are  distinguished  in  pronunciation.  We 
say,  e.  g.:  "I  tear  the  cloth  ",  and  :  "  I  shed  a  tear  "  ;  why  should  we  not  say:  "  I  tear 
the  cloth",  and:  "I  shed  &tedr'"!  "Because  it  would  be  wrong,  it  would  net  be 
English  "—an  answer  very  similar  to  that  given  by  us  above  in  regard  to  the  gender 
of  German  nouns. 

The  following  remarks  only  may  be  of  practical  value  in  regard  to  - 
gender  : 

1.  Names  of  males  are  masculine,  names  of  females,  feminine. 
Exception  :  SDa§  2Q3ei&,  the  woman,  or  wife. 

2.  Nouns  with  the  suffix  d)en  or  Kcttt  are  neuter,  without  regard  to 
sex.     There  is  no  exception  to  this  rule.    These  suffixes  impart  a  dimin- 
utive meaning  to  nouns,  and  may  be  compared  to  the  suffixes  let,  kin, 
ling  in  the  English  words  streamlet,    lambkin,  gosling,  etc. ;  as,  b  e  r 
@ol)tt,   the  son,   b  a  3  ®o!)nd)cn,  the  little  (young)  son ;    b  t  e  £oii)tcr, 
the  daughter,  b  a  3  £od)terlem,  the  little  (young)  daughter. 

The  root  vowel  of  the  noun  usually  takes  the  Umlaut  (see  "Pronunciation"  page 
20)  when  the  suffix  c&en  or  leitt  is  added. 

The  word  9J2dfcd)en  corresponds  to  the  English  word  girl,  and  is  applied  to  grown 
persons  as  well  as  little  girls ;  grduletn,  to  unmarried  ladies. 

3.  Appellations  of  any  species  or  kind  of  animate  beings  without  re- 
gard to  sex  may  be  masculine,  feminine,  or  neuter,  without  rule  to  go 
by;  as,  b  e  r  SDtofd),  man  (human  being,  man  or  woman),  b  C  r  2>ocjel,  the 


30  THE    NOUN   AND   ARTICLE. 

bird  ;  b  i  e  ^erfon,  the  person,  b  i  e  23atfc,  the  orphan  ;  b  o  S  $ferb,  the 
horse. 

Appellations  of  the  young  are  neuter  ;  as,  b  a  6  $inb,  the  child ;  b  a  8 
giillcn,  the  colt. 

4  The  names  of  cities  and  towns,  infinitives  used  as  nouns,  and  all 
words  considered  merely  as  words  are  neuter ;  also,  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet;  as,  bag  fcfjone  $artg,  the  beautiful  Paris;  ba  6  £efen,  the  read- 
ing; ba§  Hbcr,  the  (word)  "but;"  ba<3  21,  the  (letter)  "a".  The  car- 
dinal numbers,  when  used  as  nouns,  are  feminine ;  as,  bie  Sin?,  bic 
3tt>et,  the  (number  or  figure)  one,  two. 

5.  Compound  words  consisting  of  two  or  more  nouns  take,  with  few 
exceptions,  the  gender  of  the  last  noun  ;  as,  bic  2ftantl£perjon',  the  man 
(male  person) ;  baS  23eib?btlb,  the  woman ;  because  ^Serfou  is  feminine 
and  23tlb  neuter. 

6.  Many  nouns  designating  males  may  be  made  to  designate  females 
by  adding  to  them  the  suffix  in  (or  inn,  plur.  always  innen)  and  gener- 
ally taking  the  Umlaut  (see  "  Pronunciation"  page  20);  as,  bcr  grcunb, 
the  gentleman  friend,  bic  gicunbin,  the  lady  friend  ;  bcr  $od),  the  man- 
cook,  bie  $od)in,  the  woman-cook ;  bcr  2ftalcr,  the  painter  (artist),  bic 
Sftalerin,  the  female  artist  (no  Umlaut);  ber  S3aucr,  the  peasant,  bie  S3ciu* 
crin,  the  peasant- woman. 

Some  nouns  have  more  than  one  gender,  but  they  usually  change  their  mean- 
ing with  the  gender ;  as,  bcr  SBanb,  the  volume  (of  a  book);  ba3  33anb,  the  bond  (of 
friendship,  &c.)  or  the  ribbon ;  bcr  ©$ilb,  the  shield ;  ba3  ©$tlb,  the  sign. 


FOPtMATION  OF  THE  PLURAL. 

The  definite  article  lias  in  the  plural  the  form  b  t  e  for  all 
genders. 

German  nouns  form  their  plural  in  either  of  the  following 
four  ways ;  viz., 

1. — Some  retain  the  same  form  in  the  plural  as  they  have 
in  the  singular ;  as,  ber  Gngel,  the  angel,  btC  Gngel,  the  angels  ; 

ba$  2Rabc§en,  the  girl,  bie  IWtibdjen,  the  girls ;  ber  SBaflen,  the 

wagon,  bte  2Bdgen,  the  wagons. 


THE    NOUN   AND   ARTICLE.  31 

Some  of  these  distinguish  the  plural  from  the  singular  by 
taking  the.  Umlaut  (see  "  Pronunciation,"  page  20);  as,  ber 
23atcr,  the  father;  bie  93ctter,  the  fathers;  tie  3Hlttter,  the 
mother,  bte  SJcitttcr,  the  mothers. 

2. — Others  add  C  to  the  singular ;  as,  bcr  $Wtb,  the  dog,  bte 
£)imbe,  the  dogs;  ba$  Sd)Vf  the  year,  bie  Qatyc,  the  years. 

Some  of  these,  besides  adding  e,  take  the  Utttfaltt  (the  fem- 
inines  always) ;  as,  bcr  £)Ut,  the  hat,  bte  £)itte,  the  hats ;  btC 
£)Ctnb,  the  hand,  bte  £)tinbe,  the  hands. 

3. — Others  add  er  to  the  singular  and  always  take  the  Utttldltt; 
as,  ber  2Mb,  the  forest,  bte  SBtilber,  the  forests;  bd$  £)orf, 
the  village,  bte  £)orfer,  the  villages ;  bd§  33ltd),  the  book,  bte 
33itd)er,  the  books ;  bd$  £)dltS,  the  house,  bte  £)filtfcr,  the 
houses  ;  bd$  £tnb,  the  child,  bte  Stnber,1)  the  children. 

4. — Others,  again,  add  e  It  or  it  to  the  singular  and  never 
take  the  Umlaut ;  as,  ber  £)elb,  the  hero,  bie  §elbett,  the  heroes; 
bte  8TCW,  the  woman,  bte  graueit,  the  women ;  ber  $ttaIJe,  the 

boy,  bte  ihtaben,  the  boys. 

Nouns  ending  in  c  or  unaccented  el,  er,  or  or  add  only  n ;  as^  fcie  23Iumc,  the  flower,  bie 
SDIumcn ;  tie  @<$uffel,  the  dish,  fcie  <Sd)fi[feIn;  tie  geber,  the  pen,  fcie  gebern ;  fcer  5)2ad)Car, 
the  neighbor,  fcie  ^CHfyfcarn. 

All  others  add  en. 

Whether  any  given  noun  forms  its  plural  according  to  one 
or  another  of  the  four  ways  above  indicated,  is  best  learned 
by  practice  or  from  a  dictionary.  For  further  information  see 
the  remarks  under  "  Declension." 

!Der  3J2amt,  the-  man,  has  in  the  plural,  fcie  Scanner;  but  when  it  forms  the  second 
part  of  a  compound  word,  it  is  generally  changed  to  Scute  (people);  as,  fcer  tfaufmann/ 
the  merchant,  fcie  ftcmflcute,  the  merchants. 

Some  nouns  have  more  than  one  form  in  the  plural,  each  with  a  different  signifi- 
cation ;  as,  fcer  33cmfc,  the  volume  (of  a  book),  fcie  23anbc ;  fcaS  23anfc,  the  bond  (of  friend- 
ship, etc.)/  fcie  23anfce ;  fca3  53anb,  the  ribbon,  bie  33anfcer. 

1)  See  remark  to  "  Modified  Vowels,"  page  21. 


32  THE   NOUN   AND   ARTICLE. 

CASES. 

The  German  language  distinguishes  four  cases,  the  nomina- 
tive, genitive,  dative,  and  accusative.1) 

1. — The  nominative  case  corresponds  to  the  English  nomi- 
native. 

2. — The  genitive  case  frequently  expresses  the  same  relation 
as  the  English  possessive,  but  it  is  often  used  where,  in  English, 
we  use  the  preposition  of  (after  nouns  denoting  origin,  posses- 
sion, quantity,  the  part  of  a  whole,  etc.)  While,  in  English, 
we  may  say  either,  "The  father's  son,"  or,  "the  son  of  the 
father,"  in  German  we  must  say :  be$  2?ater3  Sol)U,  not,  bcr 
Sol)U  DOlt  bcm  3Satcr.  More  frequently,  however,  the  genitive 
case  is  placed  after  the  nominative,  bcr  Soljlt  bc3  3>dtcr3, 
(literally:  the  son  the  father's,  filius  patris)',  bfl3  §QU#  bc$ 
2)Zannc3,  the  man's  house ;  etllC  ©illttme  (SelbcS,  a  sum  of 
money ;  bd*  £)ccfcl  be$  33ucf)C$,  the  cover  of  the  book.2) 

Certain  verbs  and  adjectives  "govern  "the  genitive  case,  while  in 
English  they  arc  followed  by  a  preposition ;  as,  eine3  23erbred)en§  an» 
tlagcn,  to  accuse  of  a  crime  (literally:  a  crime's  to  accuse);  be§  £obe8 
ttKirbtg,  worthy  of  praise  (literally :  the  praise's  worthy). 

3. — The  dative  case  expresses  the  relation  denoted  in  English 
by  the  preposition  to;  as,  id)  gebc  bent  ®nabeit  ba$  33ud),  I  give 
(to)  the  boy  the  book.  We  must  not  say,  gu  (to)  bcm  $nabcit, 
but  the  form  of  the  article  bcm  itself,  and  in  many  cases  also 
the  form  of  the  noun,  expresses  the  relation  denoted  in  English 
by  the  preposition  to. 

The  dative  is,  however,  only  used  with  certain  verbs,  especially  such 
as  express  gift,  communication,  transfer,  etc.  In  other  cases  to  is 
generally  translated  by  311 ;  as,  I  go  to  him,  id)  flede  gll  ifym.  Some  verbs 
which,  in  English,  have  a  direct  object,  "govern"  the  dative  in  Ger- 
man ;  as,  I  help  the  brother,  id)  fyetfe  b  c  m  33riiber  (1  help  to  the  brother). 

1)  Corresponding  to  the  same  cases  in  Latin. 

2)  See  also  "  Remarks  "  at  the  end  of  the  chapter  on  the  "  Noun  and  Article." 


THE    NOUN   AND    ARTICLE.  33 


Some  adjectives  also  "govern"  the  dative  ;  as,  e3  tft  nt  t  r 
it  is  agreeable  to  me. 

4. — The  accusative  case  corresponds  to  the  English  objective 
(direct  object). 

The  objective  case  in  English  does  not  differ  in  form  from  the  nomi- 
native. In  German,  many  masculine  nouns  have  not  the  same  form  in 
the  accusative  singular  as  in  the  nominative ;  as,  ber  $nabe,  the  boy, 
ben  $nabett  (ace). 

Articles,  adjectives,  and  pronouns,  in  the  accusative  masculine  singular, 
always  differ  in  form  from  the  nominative. 

In  the  feminine  and  neuter  genders,  and  in  the  plural,  the  accusative 
has,  without  exception,  the  same  form  as  the  nominative. 

The  object  of  a  preposition  may  .be  either  in  the  genitive, 
dative,  or  accusative  case.  (See  "  Prepositions.") 

DECLENSION  OF  THE  ARTICLE. 
1.    DEFINITE    ARTICLE. 


SINGULAR. 

PLURAL. 

MASC. 

FEM. 

NEUT. 

ALL  GENDERS. 

Nom. 

bcr 

bie 

bas 

the 

bte 

Gen. 

beS 

ber 

bes 

of  the 

ber 

Dat. 

6bem 

ber 

bem 

to  the 

ben 

Ace. 

ben 

bte 

bas 

the 

bte 

In  committing  these  forms  of  declension  to  memory,  the  student  should  learn  them 
by  columns,  downwards  ;  as,  bcr,  be?,  tern,  ten  jc.,  not  first  the  nominative  of  all  gen- 
ders, bcr,  bte,  ba§ ;  then  the  genitive,  be3,  ber,  be3  jc. 

The  forms  bcm  and  ba3  are  frequently  contracted  with  the  preposition  preceding 
them  ;  for  in  bent,  we  may  say  im ;  for  auf  ta8,  auf3,  etc. ;  (also,  for  §u  ber,  jur). 
The  contractions  in  common  use  are  best  learned  by  practice. 

2.    INDEFINITE    ARTICLE. 


MASC. 

FEM. 

NEUT. 

Nom. 

ein 

erne 

em 

a 

Gen. 

ctne$ 

enter 

etne§ 

of  a 

Dat. 

etncm 

etner 

einem 

to  a 

Ace. 

etnctt 

etne 

ein 

a 

34  THE    NOUN   AND   ARTICLE. 

DECLENSION   OF   NOUNS. 

SINGULAR.  German  nouns  are  declined,  i.  e.  form  their 
cases,  in  either  of  the  following  two  ways  : 

1.  —  Some  nouns  form  their  genitive  by  adding  e§  or  $  to  the 
nominative  ;  as,  ber  fftfd),  the  fish,  be$  5ifdje3/  °f  the  fish  ;  bcr 
33ater,  the  father,  be$  23aterS,  the  father's. 

The  dative  is  formed  by  dropping  the  $  of  the  genitive;  thus, 
if  the  genitive  takes  e$,  the  dative  retains  an  e,  but  if  the 
genitive  takes  only  3,  the  dative  is  the  same  as  the  nominative; 
as,  bem  Stfcfye,  to  the  fish,  bent  33ater,  to  the  father. 

The  accusative  has  the  same  form  as  the  nominative  ;  as, 
ben  ?5ifd),  ben  £>ater. 


Nouns  ending  in  a  hissing  sound  add  e3;  others  may  take  e3  or  only  S,  euphony  being 
our  principal  guide  ;  as,  ber  23aum,  the  tree,  be3  33aume§  or  23aum3  ;  but  of  ba3  sBucfy, 
the  book,  the  genitive  be§  23ud)c3  is  preferable  to  be3  23ud)3,  Nouns  which  retain 
tho  same  ending  in  the  plural  as  they  have  in  the  singular,  add  only  §  ;  as,  ber  Skater 
(pi.  SSater),  fccS  $ater3,  not  2?atere§? 

The  c  of  the  dative  is  often  dropped  in  colloquial  intercourse  and  even  by  writers,  but 
the  beginner  should  not  make  a  practice  of  dropping  it  from  such  words  as  must  take 
e§  in  the  genitive. 

2,  —  Other  nouns  add  Ctt  or  n  to  the  nominative,  to  form  the 
genitive,  dative,  and  accusative,  they  haying  the  same  form  in 
those  three  cases  ;  as,  ber  £)Clb,  the  hero,  be$  £)elbeif,  of  the 
hero,  bcm  £)elben,  to  the  hero,  ben  £)elben,  the  hero;  ber 

$nabe,  the  boy,  be$  $naben,  of  the  boy,  bent  $naben,  to  the 
boy,  ben  $naben,  the  boy. 

Nouns  ending  in  c  or  unaccented  cr  or  at  add  only  n  ;  as,  ter  Soire,  the  lion,  be3  Sorcen  ; 
ber  Sauer,  the  peasant,  be3  93auern;  ber  llncjar,  the  Hungarian,  be§  Ungarn. 

All  others  add  en. 

NOTE.  Nouns  declined  according  to  the  first  form  (taking  e3  :c.)  are  said  by  gram- 
marians to  belong  to  the  Strong  or  Old  Declension  ;  those  declined  according  to  the 
second  form  (taking  en  jc.),  to  the  Weak  or  New  Declension. 

Feminine  nouns  remain  unchanged  in  the  singular  ;  as,  bte 
£)dnb,  the  hand,  ber  £)anb,  of  the  hand,  ber  £)Cinb,  to  the  hand, 
bie  £)(Wb,  the  hand. 


THE    NOUN   AND   ARTICLE.  35 

PLURAL.  If  the  nominative  plural  does  not  end  in  it,  an.  n 
is  added  in  the  dative,  while  the  genitive  and  accusative  retain 
the  same  form  as  the  nominative ;  as,  bte  25citer,  the  fathers, 
ber  Setter,  of  the  fathers,  ben  latent,  to  the  fathers,  bte  23dter, 
the  fathers.  But  if  the  nominative  plural  ends  in  n,  all  cases 
have  the  same  form ;  as,  bte  ©Ctrtett,  the  gardens,  ber  ©Cirten, 

ben  ©cirten,  bte  ©arteiu 


How,  then,  are  we  to  know  whether  a  certain  noun  forms 
its  genitive  by  adding  e$  (3),  or  by  adding  CU  (it),  and  how  are 
we  to  know  which  of  the  four  ways  of  forming  the  plural 
applies  to  a  given  noun? 

By  training  the  eye  and  ear  to  the  correct  forms  and,  in  case 
of  doubt ,  referring  to  a  dictionary. 

Remember  only  the  following  rule,  which  has  no  exception  : 
Nouns  which  add  cit  or  n  to  form  their  genitive,  take  the  same 
ending  in  the  plural,  in  other  words,  a  noun  which  adds  ctt  or 
U  to  form  the  genitive  retains  the  form  of  the  genitive  in  all 
cases  singular  and  plural. 

We  hold  that  other  rules,  with  their  numerous  exceptions,  tend  to  bewilder  the 
beginner  rather  than  to  facilitate  the  study ;  while  they  are  useless  to  the  farther 
advanced,  who,  in  case  of  uncertainty,  will  refer  to  the  dictionary,  not  the  grammar. 
Native  Germans  do  not  learn  the  declension  of  nouns  from  rules  other  than  those  which 
we  give  here. 

As,  in  Latin,  we  cannot  be  said  to  know  a  noun,  unless  we  are  also  acquainted  with 
its  genitive,  and  we  therefore  generally  say,  e.  g.,  "father"  is,  in  Latin,  pater,  pat ris ; 
"law"  is  lex,  legis,  etc.;  thus  also 

In  German,  we  cannot  consider  ourselves  conversant  with  a 
noun,  unless  we  are  also  acquainted  with  its  genitive  singular 
and  nominative  plural,  besides  the  gender.  All  good  diction- 
aries state,  in  the  German-English  part,  these  "Principal  Parts" 
of  every  noun,  as  we  may  call  them,  in  the  following  or  a 
similar  manner  : 


36  THE    NOUN    AND    ARTICLE. 

(£mj?I,  m.-$,  pi.-,  angel;  i.  e.,  (Snijel  is  of  the  masculine  gender  (ber 
(Enjel),  takes  in  the  genitive. 6,  be3  (SngelS,  the  plural  is  the  same 
as  the  singular,  bie  Cntgel,  and  the  word  means  in  English  angel. 
$aier,  m.-?,  pi.  $ater,  father;  i.  e.,  ber  $ater,  beS  Waters,  bie  $ater. 
m.-e5,-3,  pL  23aume,  tree;  i.  e.,  ber  SBaiim,  beS  SBaumeS,  or 

bie  SBaume. 

.-c*,  pL-sr,  child;  e.  e.,  ba§  $inb,  beS  $tnbe3,  bie  £inber. 
grau,  f.-,  pi. -en, 'woman;  bie  grail,  ber  grait  (feminines  do  not  change 
in  the  singular),  bie  grcuien. 

The  above  examples  will  suffice  for  rendering  the  student 
familiar  with  the  use  of  a  dictionary.  It  will  be  observed  that 
the  little  dash  stands  for  the  form  of  the  noun  in  the  nominative 
singular,  and  that  the  terminations  following  the  dash  are 
added  to  the  iiom.  sing.;  when  the  plural  takes  the  Untlftltt,  it 
is  generally  given  in  full.  Dictionaries  make  use  of  the  dash, 
also,  in  place  of  any  part  of  speech,  to  save  space  in  giving 
compound  words,  idiomatic  expressions,  etc. 

A  few  nouns  are  declined  in  an  irregular  manner ;  for  instance,  ba3  §erj,  the  heart, 
gen.  te3  SjerjenS.  Some  foreign  nouns  take  a  foreign  plural ;  as,  2ftuftcit3,  SOtfufici  jc. 
Such  irregularities  are  found  in  every  good  dictionary. 

§crr,  Mr.,  sir,  gentleman,  is  usually  written  with  n  in  the  sing.,  with  en  in  the 
plural ;  te3  £errn,  tie  §errcn. 

In  compound  nouns,  only  the  last  part  of  the  composition  takes  the  forms  of  the 
plural  and  declension. 

The  declension  of  German  nouns  does,  not  present  so  many 
difficulties,  as  may  appear  at  first  sight ;  and  the  beginner  may 
rest  assured  that  after  some  practice  he  will  bo  able  to  tell  the 
correct  forms  of  the  greater  part  of  nouns  without  referring  to 
his  dictionary. 

As  a  review,  we  give  a  Tabular  Statement,  accompa- 
nied by  examples,  trusting  that  it  will  assist  the  student  in 
gaining  a  clear  insight  into  the  declension  of  German  nouns. 
Most  students,  however,  will  do  better  by  contenting  them- 
selves with  the  explanations  given  heretofore  and  deferring  the 
study  of  the  following  Table  and  Paradigms  to  a  later  period, 


THE    NOUN   AND   ARTICLE. 


37 


when  they  will  have  acquired  some  practical  knowledge  of  the 
language  from  reading  or  conversation. 


Nom. 
Gen. 
Dat. 
Ace. 


SINGULAR. 

— CS  or— 8 
— e    or— 


— en  or — n 
— en  or— n 
— en  or — n 


PLURAL. 

r~     
Nom.  — 

—  e 

—  er 

Gen.    — 

—  e 

—  er 

Dat.    —  n 

—  en 

—  ern 

Ace.    — 

—  e 

—  er 

-en  or  — n 
-en  or  — n 
-en  or  — n 
-en  or  — n 


SINGULAR. 

Nom.  ber  (Spiegel    the  mirror 
Gen.    be§  S>piegcl3  of  the  mirror 


PARADIGMS. 

1. 

[,  m.-8,  pi.-,  mirror. 

PLURAL. 

bie  (Spiegel      the  mirrors 
ber  (Spiegel     of  the  mirrors 


Dat.    bent  ^Spiegel    to  the  mirror      ben  (Sxpiegeln  to  the  mirrors 
Ace.   ben  (Spiegel     the  mirror          bie  <Sptegel      the  mirrors 


EXAMPLES  FOR  PRACTICE — 

L.-$,  pi.-,  baker  $Iofter,  n.-8,  pi.  Softer,  cloister 

SBrnber,  m.-§,  pi.  23riiber,  brother  Sftabcfyen,  n.-§,  pi.-,  girl 

genfter,  n.-3,  pi.-,  window  Gutter,  f.-,  pi.  Sftiitter,  mother 

graulein,  n.-3,  pi.-,  miss  (Sdjliiffel,  m.-§,  pi.-,  key 

©artcn,  m.-§,  pi.  ©artcn,  garden  (Sctjneibec,  m.-6,  pi.-,  tailor 

e,  n.-3,  pi.-,  building  £od)ter,  f.-,  pi.  Xot^ter,  daughter 

a. -6,  pi.-,  cheese  SBaffer,  n.-§,.pl.-,  water 


Sautter  and  Socfyter  are  the  only  feminine  nouns  that  remain  unchanged  in  the  plural 
(taking  the  Umlaut  only). 


38  THE   NOUN   AND    ARTICLE. 

2. 

Xtjcf),  m.-eS,  pL-e,  table. 

SINGULAR.  PLURAL. 

Norn,  ber  £tfd)  the  table  bte  Stfcfye  the  tables 

Gen.    be$  £tjd)eS  of  the  table  ber  £tfcf)e  of  the  tables 

Dat.    bem  £tfd)e  to  the  table  ben  £tfd)en  to  the  tables 

Ace.    ben  £t(d)  the  table  bie  £t|d)e  the  tables 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PRACTICE — 

Slltar',  m.-c3,-3,  pi.  2lftci're,  altar  §ut,  m.-c8,  pi.  §itte,  hat 

3lrm,  m.-e3,-3,  pl.-C,  arm  Satyr,  n.-e3,-6,  pl.-e,  year 

ft,  n.-c§,  pi.  8fo&cf  ra^  ^onig,  m.-e§f-§,  pl.-e,  king 

6,  f.-,  pi.  ©anfe,  goose  3Jionat/  m.-e§,-^,  pl.-e,  month 

n,  m.-t%,-$,  pL  §al)ne,  rooster  (£>d)tcffal,  n.-c§,-6,  pl.-e,  fate 

§anb,  f.-,  pi.  §anber  hand  £ag,  m.-e5,-«,  pl.-e,  day 

t],  n.-ffc§,  pL-ffc,  obstacle  Xljor,  n«-e6,-5,  pL-c,  gate 


3. 
t,  n.-e6,  pL  flatter,  leaf. 

SINGULAR.  PLURAL. 

Norn.  bo8  53Iatt  the  leaf  bte  flatter  the  leaves 

Gen.   beS  SBIattc§  of  the  leaf  ber  flatter  •  of  the  leaves 

Dat.    bcm  53Iatte  to  the  leaf  ben  Slattern  to  the  leaves 

Ace.    bag  Stott  the  leaf  bte  flatter  the  leaves 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PRACTICE — 

S3  lib,  n.-c£,  pl.-er,  image  ^leib,  n.-eS,  pl.-er,  dress 

),  n.-e$f  pi.  23iid)er,  book  Samm,  n.-e6,  pi.  £ammer,  lamb 

,  n.-c§,  pL  2)ad^er,  roof  2Jiann,  m.-e-3,  pi.  Scanner,  man 

gelb,  n.-e?,  pl.-er,  field  9^ab,  n.-e§,  pi.  SRSber,  wheel  [riches 

.-e6f  pl.-er,  ghost  ^etdjtfjum^m.-es^-^^pl.^etdjt^umer, 

t',  n.-e§,-5,  pl.-er,  sex  SSatb,  m.-e^,  pL  SSalber,  forest 

§,  n.-fel,  pi.  §duferf  house  SSetb,  n.-e?,  pl.-er,  woman 

Only  masculine  and  neuter  nouns  form  their  plural  by  adding  cr  to  the  singular. 


THE   NOUN   AND  ARTICLE.  39 

4. 
$nge,  n.-§,  pl.-tt,  eye. 

SINGULAR.  PLURAL. 

Nom.  ba§  $uge  the  eye  bte  2lugen  the  eyes 

Gen.    bee  9luge§  of  the  eye  ber  lugen  of  the  eyes 

Dat.    bent  2fnge  to  the  eye  ben  togen  to  the  eyes 

Ace.    bag  $lnge  the  eye  bte  $ugen  the  eyes 

EXAMPLES  FOB  PRACTICE — 

SBett,  n.-e8,  pi. -en,  bed  DIjr,  n.-e$,-$,  pi. -en,  ear 

3)oc'tor,  m.-§,  pi.  3)octo'ren,  doctor  ®d)tner$,  m.-e$,  pi. -en,  pain 
3nfeft',  n.-e3,-S,  pl.-cn,  insect          @ee,  m.-8,  pl.-n,  lake 
ft,  m.-e3,  pl.-cn,  mast  (Staat,  m.-e6f  pi. -en,  state 


5. 

§elb,  m.  -en,  pi.  -en,  hero. 

SINGULAR.  PLURAL. 

Nom.  ber  §elb  the  hero  bte  §elben  the  heroes 

Gen.    be6  §elben  of  the  hero  ber  §elben  of  the  heroes 

Dat.    bem  §elbcn  to  the  hero  ben  §elben  to  the  heroes 

Ace.    ben  §elben  the  hero  bte  §elben  the  heroes 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PRACTICE — 

2lffe,  m.  -n,  pi.  -n,  ape  $ontgtn,  f.  -,  pi.  -nen,  queen 

SBcrier,  m.  -n,  pi.  -n,  (the)  Bavarian  £aft,  f.  -,  pi.  -en,  burden 
S3ar,  m.  -en,  pi.  -en,  bear  Sftenfd),  m.  -en,  pi.  -en,  human  being 

SBitrg,  f.  -,  pi.  -en,  castle  Sftonard)',  m.  -en,  pi.  -en,  monarch 

(Eanbtbaf,  m.  -en,  pi.  -en,  candidate  Dper,  f.  -,  pi.  -n,  opera 
©eftif)rte,m.  -n,pl.  -n,  companion    @d)Iad)t,  f.  -,  pi.  -en,  battle 
@raf,  m.  -en,  pi.  -en,  count  ©djtoefter,  f.  -,  pi.  -n,  sister 

§afe,  m.  -n,  pi.  -n,  hare  £I)or,  m.  -en,  pi.  -en,  fool 

3njcl,  f.  -,  pi.  -n,  island  2Bal)r!)eit,  f.  -,  pi.  -en,  truth 

Only  masculine  and  feminine  nouns  add  en  to  form  the  genitive  singular. 


40  THE    NOUN    AND    ARTICLE. 

PROPER  NOUNS. 

Proper  nouns  wliicli  cannot  be  used  without  the  definite 
article  are  declined  like  common  nouns ;  as,  bcr  §arg,  tne 

Hartz,-  be§  £wrje8,  bent  £arge,  ben  £wrj ;  bie  Ufcr  be3  a?l)ctn(c)8, 

the  banks  of  the  Rhine;  bie  ©ebirge  bcr  SdjlDCij  (btC  (£d)tt>CtJ,  f.), 
the  mountains  of  Switzerland;  greibnrg  tm  (for  in  bem)  ^5rci3- 
gait,  Freiburg  in  Breisgau. 

The  definite  article  always  precedes  the  names  of  mountains,  rivers,  etc.,  and  the 
masculine  and  feminine  names  of  countries. 

The  neuter  names  of  countries  and  the  names  of  cities  and 
towns  (which  are  always  neuter)  either  add  3  to  form  the  geni- 
tive, or  take  the  preposition  t)0n  (of) ;  as,  bie  2)id)ter  £cnt[d)- 
lcmb$,  Germany's  poets;  bie  Saifer  Don  3>lttfdjlanb,  the  emper- 
ors of  Germany ;  bie  StntDo^ner  ^omburflS,  or  Don  £)ambnrg, 
the  inhabitants  of  Hamburg. 

Those  ending  in  a  hissing  sound  cannot  take  6;  as,  bie  Straften  ton  $ari§  (not  $arifc§), 
the  streets  of  Paris. 

Names  of  persons  form  their  genitive  by  adding  $  (some- 
times ; 3,  especially  in  the  case  of  family  names);  as,  Sarl3  ^!3nd), 
Charles's  book;  23ertl)a'$  Xante,  Bertha's  aunt;  ©otfye'S  2Scrfe, 
Goethe's  works  ;  those  ending  in  a  hissing  sound  add  cn$, 
feminines  ending  in  e  add  n3  ;  as,  8rif3,  Fred,  -(JrifeenS  ;  i'Ontfe, 
Louisa,  &ntifcn$. 

The  dative  and  accusative  are  the  same  as  the  nominative. 

Names  of  persons  may,  however,  be  preceded  by  an  article 
(or  a  word  declined  like  an  article),  in  which  case  they  remain 

unchanged;  as,  ber  Sari,  Charles,  be$  Sari,  bent  Sari,  ben  Sari; 
bie  93itd)er  meincS  ^?aitl,  the  books  of  my  Paul ;  bie  (Jltcrn  be$ 

gntett  9SiIf)Clm,  the  parents  of  good  William. 

When  a  proper  name  is  preceded  by  an  adjective,  the  latter  is  preceded  by  the  definite 
article,  except  in  addressing  a  person  ;  as,  tcr  gutc  Cutuncj,  good  Lewis;  but,  i$\e\):, 
lie&er  Cubnnrj,  bafj  jc.,  I  see,  dear  Lewis,  that,  etc. 

Greek  and  Latin  proper  names  were  formeriy  often  declined  as  in  Latin ;  as,  ScfratiS 
Scfyuler,  Socrates's  scholars.  Now,  the  prevailing  practice  ij  to  form  their  genitive 


THE   NOUN    AND    ARTICLE.  41 

by  adding  6  (or  '§);  as,  (£afar§  ftelbgftge,  Csesar's  campaigns;  Gtcero'3  9?eben,  Cicero's 
orations  ;  or,  if  they  end  in  3,  as  in  the  former  example,  they  are  left  unchanged  or  take 
an  apostrophe ;  as,  <5ofrate3  (or  ©ofrateS')  ©djiiler  (or  better,  bte  ©djuler  be§  <£o!rate§). 

Of  3efu3  C^rijluS  the  Latin  genitive  3efu  Gtyrtftt  is  generally  used. 

When  tho  name  of  a  person  is  preceded  by  a  title,  without  an  article,  the  name  only 
is  declined ;  as,  ^aifer  SBUIjelmS  Ofagteruncj,  Emperor  William's  government ;  but  when 
an  article  precedes  the  title,  the  latter  is  declined,  not  the  name ;  as,  bte  Dfocjierung  be§ 
$atfer3  SBifljelm.  Only  the  word  £>err  is  always  declined;  as,  £>errn  SKfttter'8  £>au§  ;  ba§ 
£>au§  beg  £crrn  SKftttcr. 

The  plural  of  names  of  men  is  generally  formed  by  adding  e  ] 
as,  bte  £>etntid>e,  the  Henrys;  those  ending  in  o  add  ne;  as,  bte 
OttOlte,  the  Othos ;  others  remain  unchanged ;  as,  bie  ©Otlje, 
btC  2d)t((cr.  The  dative  takes  \\f  if  the  nominative  does  not 
end  in  n ;  as,  belt  £)Cinricfyen,  to  the  Henrys. 

The  plural  of  names  of  women  is  formed  by  adding  Ctt,  tt,  or 

'n ;  as,  2lbctt)eib,  Adelaide,  bte  Slbelljetben ;  Sottife,  bie  Soutfen ; 
a,  bie 


REMARKS   ON   THE   USE   OF  THE  ARTICLE  AND  NOUN. 

The  definite  article  is  employed  :  1)  When  we  use  the  name  of  an  author  for  his 
works  ;  as,  id)  fyabc  ten  ©fitter  gefauft,  I  have  bought  Schiller's  works.  2)  Before  a  word 
taken  in  its  widest  signification,  including  all  of  the  kind  denoted  by  it ;  as,  ber  Sftettidj 
tfl  fterMid),  man  is  mortal ;  tcr  Qu&n  tft  fu§f  sugar  is  sweet.  3)  Before  the  names  of 
days,  months,  and  seasons ;  as,  tcr  9ftotttag,  Monday ;  bcr  Slpril',  April ;  ber  2Binter, 
winter.  4)  Before  words  denoting  relationship ;  as,  bcr  (or  tnctn,  :c.)  SSatcr  tft  gu  §aujef 
father  is  at  home.  5)  In  the  phrases :  cr  tfl  in  ber  ©efyule,  Sttvdjc,  ©tabt  x.,  he  is  at  school, 
church,  town.  C)  Before  words  denoting  weight,  measure,  or  time,  in  such  phrases 
as,  funfau3  spfenntge  b  a  §  $funb,  b  i  c  Gfle,  fift\-  pence  a  pound,  an  ell ;  brcimal  b  a  8  3a^r, 
three  times  a  year.  7)  Before  some  other  words,  which  are  best  learned  by  practice  ; 
as,  ber  Goncjrcfe',  Congress ;  caS  Sfyriftentfyum,  Christianity,  etc. 

The  use  of  the  definite  article  with  proper  nouns  has  already  been  commented  upon 
(see  "  Proper  Nouns"). 

The  indefinite  article  is  omitted  in  stating  a  person's  occupation ;  as,  cr  f fl  $rjt,  he  is 
a  physician. 

The  article  must  be  repeated  before  each  of  two  or  more  nouns  which  arc  not  of  the 
same  gender  and  number  ;  as,  ber  33ater,  bie  SUhttter  unb  ba3  $tnb,  the  father,  mother, 
and  child ;  bte  Gutter  unb  bie  £5$ter,  the  mother  and  daughters ;  but  if  they  are  all  in 
the  plural,  the  article  may  be  used  but  once ;  as,  bte  ©ofyne  (m.)  unb  £od)tcr  (f). 

Nouns  denoting  number,  measure,  or  weight,  retain  their  singular  form  after  cardinal 
numbers ;  as,  getyn  <S  t  u  (f  Slid),  ten  pieces  of  cloth ;  brei  ©  I  a  8  2Sein,  three  glasses  of  wine ; 
gwet  $  f  u  n  b  ^taffec,  two  pounds  of  coffee ;  except  the  feminities,  and  those  denoting 


42  THE    ADJECTIVE. 

periods  of  time,  or  coins ;  as,  brei  GKen  Suclj,  three  ells  of  cloth  ;  brci  Sage,  three  days ; 
adjt  $fennicje,  eight  pence.  But  jefyn  2ftarf  (not  2ftarfcn),  ten  mark(s),  German  coin. 
$5cflar  and  Gent,  also,  are  generally  left  unchanged  in  the  plural ;  as,  fiinf  Cottar,  jeljn 
Gent. 

Nouns  in  apposition  must  agree  in  number  and  case  ;  as,  ber  9£a$bar,  mein  ^rcunb 
92,  the  neighbor,  my  friend  N ;  ba§  §au3  be3  Dfadj&arn,  metneS  greunbe§  9?. 

The  English  of  is  not  translated  in  German,  nor  is  its  object  put  in  the  genitive 
case:  1)  Usually  after  nouns  denoting  measure,  weight,  etc. ;  as,  etn  23u$  papier,  a 
quire  of  paper ;  etn  Gentncr  $eu,  a  hundred-weight  of  hay  (see  also  the  examples  given 
above,  brei  @la§  SBein  :c.) ;  but  when  the  object  of  the  preposition  of  is  accompanied  by 
a  limiting  or  qualifying  word,  it  is  put  in  the  genitive ;  as,  ein  ©Ia3  btefe§  SSeine-3,  or 
guten  23cine§,  a  glass  of  this,  or  of  good  wine.  2)  In  such  expressions  as  bie  Stabt 
SBerlin,  the  city  of  Berlin  ;  ber  2J2onat  3J2ai,  the  month  of  May;  ber  erflc  3unt,  the  first 
o/June. 

Of  is  usually  translated  by  ton:  1)  When  its  object  denotes  the  material  of 
which  something  is  made ;  as,  etn  SJincj  con  (Mb,  a  ring  of  gold  (a  gold  ring)  etne  $ctte 
ton  Gifen,  a  chain  of  iron  (an  iron  chain) ;  or,  ein  golbencr  SZtng,  cine  ct)crnc  Slettc. 
2)  When  the  noun  following  of  is  not  accompanied  by  a  determining  word  which,  in 
German,  indicates  the  genitive  case  by  its  termination ;  as,  ein  2Sater  »on  je§n  <£6§nen, 
a  father  of  ten  sons. 

The  accusative  is  used  in  stating  measure,  weight,  value,  and  time;  as,  bag 
95rett  mijjt  jefyt  unb  ctnen  ^al&en  gup,  c§  i{l  etnen  gup  Oreit ;  the  board  measures  ten  feet 
and  a  half,  it  is  one  foot  wide  ;  bie  (Slccfe  nriev3t  ctncn  Gentncr,  or  ifl  ctncn  Gentncr  j^wer, 
the  bell  weighs  a  hundred-weight,  or  is  a  hundred-weight  in  weight  ("heavy");  ba3 
£3id)  foftct  cincn  Staler,  e3  ifl  ctnen  Staler  wertty,  the  book  costs  a  thaler,  it  is  worth  a 
thaler;  c3  bauerte  ctncn  Sa^,  it  lasted  a  day ;  ba3  iltnb  i]l  brci  unb  etncn  I;albcn  vD2onat  alt, 
the  child  is  three  months  and  a  half  old ;  ben  $roolftcn  3unt,  the  twelfth  of  Juno  ;  ©an 
^ranctSco,  ben  13.  Sftarj  1379.  The  tini3  in  which  anything  takes  place  is  also  often  ex- 
pressed by  the  genitive,  or  a  preposition  with  its  proper  case;  as,  QKo^cnc,  or  am 
2ftor{jcn,  in  tho  morning ;  <5onntaa,3,  or  am  <Sonntage,  on  Sunday ;  am  folgenben  Stage,  on 
the  f allowing  day ;  etc. 


THE   ADJECTIVE. 

(Das  Sdbjectto,  gigenfcijaitS*  obcr  Setoort.) 

When  an  adjective  is  used  predicatively,it  remains  unchanged, 
as  in  English;  as,  ber  SSatcr  tft  QUt,  the  father  is  good;  bie  Wut* 
tcr  ift  f|ltt,  the  mother  is  good  ;  ba$  Stub  tft  gilt,  the  child  is 
good  ;  btC  Gttcm  ftnb  gut,  the  parents  are  good.  It  Yv-ill  be 
observed  in  these  examples  that  gut,  being  used  predicatively, 


THE     ADJECTIVE.  43 

undergoes  no  change,  be  the  noun  masculine,  feminine,  or 
neuter,  singular  or  plural. 

An  adjective  joined,  attributively,  to  a  noun,  but  placed 
after  it,  instead  of  preceding  it,  remains  also  unchanged ;  as, 
etn  9fttter,  ebet  imb  tapfer,  a  knight,  noble  and  brave. 

An  adjective,  however,  when  joined  to  the  noun  which  it 
qualifies,  generally  precedes  that  noun  (as  in  English)  and  is 
then  declined,  i.  e.,  it  adds  certain  terminations  to  its  original 
form  in  the  different  genders,  numbers,  and  cases,  and  must 
agree  with  its  noun,  in  gender,  number,  and  case. 

The  declension  of  an  adjective  is  not  the  same  under  all 
conditions,  and  depends  upon  what  precedes  the  adjective.  It 
appears,  at  first  sight,  quite  bewildering  to  beginners,  but  when 
once  understood,  it  will  be  found  very  simple. 

Adjectives  are  declined  in  three  different  ways  ;  viz., 

1. — When  not  preceded  by  an  article  (or  word  declined  like 

an  article)  the  adjective  takes  the  same  terminations  as  the 

definite  article. 

Instead  of  ie  (Me)  the  adjectives  add  only  C,  and  instead  of  a§  (bag) 
they  add  c§. 

The  genitive  singular  in  the  masculine  and  neuter  is  now  generally 
formed  by  adding  en  instead  of  e$  (be8). 


PARADIGMS. 

SINGULAR. 
MASCULINE.  FEMININE.  NEUTER. 

good  wine  good  soup  good  cloth 


Norn,  guter  SSetn  gute  ©uppe  gute§ 

Gen.  guteu  (e6)  SBetneS  guter  6uppe  gutcn 

Bat.  gutem  SSeine  guter  ^ujtye  gutem 

Ace.  guten  SSetn  gute  <2tippe  gtttes 


44:  THE    ADJECTIVE. 

PLURAL. 

ALL  GENDERS. 

good  wines,     soups,     cloths 
Norn.     gitte  SSetne,  ®iippen,  £iid)er 
Gen.      guter  SSeine,  ®uft)cn,  Siidjer 
Dat.       guten  SScincn,  @uppcn,  £iid)ern 
Ace.      gute  28etne,  ©uppen,  £itd)er 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PRACTICE  — 
DECLINE,  in  the  singular  only, 

Ijartcr  2ta!;I,  -c3,  hard  steel  fdituar^e  £inte,  black  ink 

ftarfcr  £aba:f,  -3,  strong  tobacco      tt>ctJ3e§  papier,  -8,  white  paper 
btoiie  3e&e,  blue  silk  friic^cS  23rob,  -e§,  fresh  bread 


DECLINE,  in  the  plural, 

grofcc  3ftatmcr,  great  men  fdjonc  graiicn,  beautiful  women 

griinc  23aitmc,  green  trees  blonbe  §aarc,  blonde  hair(s) 

rcinc  §anbc,  clean  hands  gliidltd)c  ^tnbcr,  happy  children 

This  form  of  declension  is  called  by  grammarians  the  Strong  or  Old  Declension  of 
adjectives. 

Adjectives  also  follow  this  declension,  when  they  are  preceded 
by  limiting  words  which  are  not  declined  ;  as,  QCnitCJ,  enough  ; 

ettnas,  some;  Diet,  much;  mel)r,  more;  toenig,  little;  allertet,  all 

kinds  of,  etc.,  and  the  cardinal  numbers  JlDCi,  brei,  Diet  2C. 

3trei,  tret,  ticl,  inc^r,  trcni^,  are  sometimes  declined  (see  "Numerals"  and  "Indefinite 
Pronouns"),  and  then  the  adjectives  follow  the  declension  explained  under  2.  — 

When  the  adjective  is  preceded  by  a  personal  pronoun  of  the  first  or  second  person, 
it  is  declined  as  above;  as,  id)  armcr  2$ann,  I,  poor  man;  fcir  gutcm  2^'eunte,  to  you(thee), 
good  friend  ;  eudj  Iteben  93tufcern,  to  you,  dear  brothers  ;  though  in  the  second  person  it 
is  customary  to  use  the  adjective  and  noun  in  the  nominative  case  ;  as,  bir,  guter  greunb; 
eudj,  liebe  23riifccr. 

2.  —  When  preceded  by  the  definite  article,  the  adjective  adds 
C  in  the  nominative  singular,  and  en  in  all  other  cases  of  the 
singular  and  all  cases  of  the  plural;  the  same  in  all  genders. 
The  accusative  singular  feminine  and  neuter  lias,  of  course,  the 
.same  form  as  the  nominative  (see  "Accusative  Case"  page  33). 


THE     ADJECTIVE. 

PARADIGMS. 

SINGULAR. 

MASCULINE.  FEMININE.  NEUTER. 

the  good  father  the  good  mother  the  good  child 

Nom.  ber  gute  2>ater  bie  gute  Gutter  ba6  gute  $inb 

Gen.    be$  guten  Setters         ber  guten  Gutter  beg  guten  $inbe3 

Dat.     bem  guten  Sater         ber  guten  Gutter  bem  guten  $inbe 

Ace.    ben  guten  Satcr          bie  gute  Gutter  ba§  gute  ~' 

PLURAL. 

ALL  GENDERS. 

the  good  fathers,  mothers,  children 
JSTom.    bie  guten  $ater,  2ftiitter,  $inber  • 
Gen.      bcr  guten  Satcr,  SMttcr,  $inbcr 
Dat.      ben  guten  Sdtern,  3ftiittern, 
Ace.      bie  guten  SStitcr,  Gutter, 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PRACTICE — 
DECLINE,  in  both  numbers, 
ber  ftciftige  ®d)iiler,  the  diligent        bie  rotlje  3£ofc,  the  red  rose 

[scholar  ba3  ftrenge  ©efct3,  the  severe  law 

ber  ftarte  2lrm,  the  strong  arm          ba3  Heine  2)orf,  the  small  village 
bie  grane  2Jiau3,  the  gray  mouse       ba§  fdjone  5lugef  the  beautiful  eye 

Practice  also  on  the  examples  given  under  1. — ,  after  prefixing  the 
definite  article;  as,  ber  Ijarte  ©taljl  :c. 

This  form  of  declension  is  called  by  grammarians  the  Weak  or  New  Declension  of 
adjectives. 

Adjectives  also  follow  this  declension  when  they  are  preceded 
by  limiting  words  that  are  declined  like  the  definite  article ; 
sucli  words  are  btefer,  this;  jener,  that;  jeber,  every;  alter, 
all;  ehtiger,  some;  member,  many  a;  etc.  (see  "Pronouns".) 
Practice  on  the  above  examples  by  siibstituting  btefcr,  {end", 
jebcr  2CV  for  the  definite  article. 

After  the  words  offer,  einiger,  manner,  and  after  ctltdjetv  some,  mefyrere,  several,  tticle, 
many,  the  adjective  is  often  declined  like  the  definite  article  (see  page  43,  1. — ) ; 
as,  mancfjcr  guter  2ftann,  many  a  good  man ;  cinige  gute  2tepfcl,  some  good  apples. 


46 


THE    ADJECTIVE. 


3. — When  preceded  by  the  indefinite  article,  the  adjective 
is  declined  in  the  same  manner  as  when  preceded  by  the  definite 
article,  except  that  in  the  nominative  masculine  and  neuter 
(and  accusative  neuter)  of  the  singular  it  takes  the  termina- 
tions of  the  definite  article,  adding  cr  in  the  masculine  and  e3 
in  the  neuter. 

Tliis  form  is  called  by  grammarians  the  Mixed  Declension,  having  partly  the  form  of 
•tho  Strong  and  partly  of  the  Weak  Declension, 

Adjectives  also  follow  this  declension,  when  they  are  preceded 
by  such  words  as  are  declined  like  the  indefinite  article ;  viz., 
the  so-called  possessive  pronouns  (see  "  Pronouns  ")  nicitt,  my  ; 
betn,  thy;  feht,  his  or  its;  i^r,  her  or  their;  unfer,  our;  Clier, 
your ;  QljlC,  your ;  and  the  word  fetn,  no  (not  any). 

These  words  have,  like  the  indefinite  article  etn,  the  same 
form  in  the  nominative  masculine  and  neuter  (and  the  accusa- 
tive neuter)  singular,  and  the  German  idiom  requires  that  in 
those  cases  the  adjective  should  take  a  termination  indicating 
the  gender. 


MASCULINE. 

my  good  son 
N.  mein  gutcr  2>olj 
G.  ntctnes  gutcn 
D.  metncm  gutcn  3o!me 
A.  mctnen  guten 


PARADIGMS, 

SINGULAR. 

FEMININE. 

my  good  daughter 
metnc  gute 
mctncr  gutcn 
mein:r  guten  Xoijter 
meiue  (jute  Xodjtcr 


NEUTER. 

my  good  book 
mcin  Qiitc3 
mcinc3  tjutcn 
metncm  guten  iBudjc 
metn 


ALL  GENDERS. 


my    good    sans,  daughters,  boojis 
N.      mctne  gutcn  ©oljnc,  Softer, 
G.      mciner  gutcn  Goljne,  Softer, 
D.      meincn  gutcn  ^oljnen,  £od)tern, 
A.      meinc  guten  (Sblme,  Xod)tcr, 


THE   ADJECTIVE.  47 

Decline,  for  practice,  the  examples  given  with  the  other  forms  of 
declension,  using  the  indefinite  article  cut,  or  one  of  the  words 
declined  like  it,  before  the  adjective ;  as,  bettt  (Jitter  <£>tal)t,  iljrc  bfdite 
©eibe,  jein  tneiges  papier,  cm  Qrojjer  Sftann  :c. 

The  time  spent  in  practicing  the  declension  of  adjectives  is  not  wasted,  ' 
because  by  such  practice  the  ear  is  trained  to  a  proper  perception  of  the 
correct  forms,  and  this  is  the  end  we  should  have  in  view  in  teaching  or 
learning  a  foreign  language.  Unless  the  students  acquire  an  intuitive 
"feeling",  which  enables  them  to  discriminate,  unconsciously,  between 
the  correct  and  the  incorrect,  all  rules  and  classifications  are  to  very 
little  purpose. 

Besides  those  given  above,  a  largo  number  of  other  examples  may  be  proposed  by  the 
teacher  or  by  the  students  themselves. 

Those  who  have  not  the  advantages  of  a  teacher's  help,  may  write  a  number  of 
declensions,  have  them  corrected  by  a  competent  parson,  and  then  commit  them  to 
memory  and  recite  them,  aloud,  until  they  "  coma  quita  natural "  to  them. 


REMARKS.  Adjectives  ending1  in  c  drop  it  before  adding  the  terminations  required 
in  declension. 

Euphony  permits  sometimes  the  elision  of  an  c ;  as,  cbet,  noble,  ctn  cbler.  .(lor  cbeler) 
Sftcnfd),  a  noble  man ;  fyeifr  (serene),  am  (an  bem)  fyeitcrn  (for  fycttcrcn)  §itnmel,  in  the 
serene  sky. 

§odj,  high,  drops  the  c  when  used  attributively  before  a  noun ;  fcer  IjoTje  23aum,  the 
high  tree,  bc3  I)ol)cn  $8aume3,  bic  fyofyen  23dume  jc.;  but,  bcr  23aum  ift  fyodj,  the  treo  is  high. 

When  more  adjectives  than  ono  precede  a  noun,  they  all  follow  the  same  form  of 
declension;  as,  guter,  alter,  2Bctn,  good  old  wine;  bcr  wcife,  gute,  atte  23?ann,  the  wise, 
good,  old  man;  ctn  roeifciv  gutcr,  alter  2J2ann,  a  wise,  etc. 

Participles  used  as  adjectives  are  declined  as  adjectives ;  as,  ber  Iteknbe  SSater,  tho 
loving  father;  ctn  Itcfcenbcr  Satcr,  a  loving  father. 

Adjectives  used  as  nouns  are  usually  declined  as  adjectives ;  as,  ber  1)eutf$c,  the 
German,  bc3  ©eutfdjcit  jc. ;  ctn  SJeutfcJjcr,  a  German ;  but  in  some  cases  they  are  treated 
as  nouns ;  as,  cr  fprtdjt  ctn  (juteS  SDcutfdj  (not  £5eutfdjc6),  be  speaks  (a)  good  German. 

In  English,  adjectives  used  as  nouns  generally  convoy  a  plural  moaning ;  as,  tho  rich 
are  not  always  happy ;  in  German,  they  may  be  used  either  in  tlie  singular  or  in  tho 
plural ;  as,  bcr  SJetc^c  i't  mcfyt  immcr  glucHtu),  or,  bte  Stfcidjen  fmb  nicfyt  immer  QlMIicf;. 

German  nouns  are  not  used  as  adjectives  ;  when  an  English  noun  is  thu.3  used,  tho 
Germans  either  employ  an  appropriate  adjective  or  uso  a  compound  noun  ;  as,  a  silk 
dress,  cin  fcibcnc3  ftlcib ;  the  silk  trade,  bcr  Seibcnfyanbel.  Proper  nouns  derived  from 
names  of  places  aro  used  adjectively,  but  aro  not  inflected;  as,  bcr  $amSurgct  £>afcn, 
Hamburg  harbor ;  bc3  ^amtwrgcr  ^afenS  jc. ;  but  wo  say,  ba3  <3$t"f  bc3  £>amftut<]c:3, 
the  ship  cf  the  man  from  Hamburg,  because  here  §amlwrger  is  used  as  a  noun. 


48  THE   ADJECTIVE. 

COMPARISON  OF  ADJECTIVES. 

Adjectives  form  their  comparative  by  adding  er,  and  their 
superlative  by  adding  eft,  to  the  positive ;  as,  ntilb,  mild ; 
milber,  milder;  milbeft,  mildest. 

Adjectives  ending  in  c  drop  it  before  adding1  the  termination.  In  the  superlative,  the 
c  of  the  termination  cjl  is  droppel  whenever  euphony  allows  it ;  as,  reidj,  rich,  retcfyft, 
richest.  In  some  adjectives  euphony  permits  the  elision  of  an  c  from  the  root  in  the 
comparative  degree  ;  as,  cbcl,  noble,  ctler,  nobler. 

Most  monosyllables  take  the  Umlaut  in  the  comparative;  as, 
alt,  old,  alter,  older,  altcft,  oldest ;  JUUCJ,  young,  {linger,  younger, 
jihigft,  youngest.  (For  exceptions  see  "Remarks",  next  page.) 

©efttnb,  healthy,  is  the  only  adjective  of  more  than  one  syllable  that  may  take  the 
Umlaut ;  gejunbcr,  gefuntejl;  but  gefunber,  gefunbcft,  are  also  used. 

Adjectives  in  the  comparative  and  superlative  degrees  are 
declined  as  in  the  positive;  as,  etlt  reicfyercr  Miami  f  a  richer 

man,  chtcS  rcWjcr(c)n  SUZmmeS  :cv  ber  reidjfte  Miami f  the  richest 
man,  be3  retdjftcn  2)?auiie3  :c. 

Participles,  whose  meaning  admits  of  comparison,  form  their 
degrees  in  the  same  manner  as  adjectives;  as,  bebeuteilb,  impor- 
tant, bcbeuteuber,  bebeuteubeft  or  kbeutetibft. 

The  comparison  of  the  following  adjectives  is  irregular  or 
defective  ;  viz., 

gut,  good  beffer,  better  bt]l,  best 

I>oi),  high  fyoljer,  higher  I)Wt,  highest 

na5,  near  ttafjcr,  nearer  niic^ft,  nearest,  next 

bid,  much  mcfjr,  more  metft,  most 

wentj,  little,  tocnigcr,  )  legg  ^entoft,  )  leagt 

minber,  j  nttnbeft,  ) 

[wanting]  cber,  upper  obcrft,  upmost 

"  Ultter,  under  unterft,  undermost 

"  duller,  outer  duftcrft,  outmost,  utmost 

"  timer,  inner  inuerft,  inmost 

"  Dorber,  fore  Dorberft,  foremost 

*'  [)tntcr,  hinder  ^tuterft,  hindmost 

*'  mittler,  middle  mittelft,  middlemost 


THE    ADJECTIVE.  49 

The  last  eight  comparatives  and  superlatives  in  the  list  have  no  ad- 
jective positive,  being  formed  from  adverbs. 

©roJ3,.  great,  large,  generally  takes  the  form  groftt  in  the  superlative, 
instead  of  rjrofteft. 

In  sentences  expressing  equality  of  degree,  as — as  is  translated  by 
fo — Vote,  or  cbenfo— ttnc;  as,  er  ift  fo  fteifilfl,  one  id),  he  is  as  diligent  as 
I ;  al3  is  often  used  instead  of  trie,  especially  when  the  comparison 
relates  to  quantity,  not  quality;  as,  cr  I)at  fo  Did  (Mb,  al6  v.1).  The 
word  than  must  always  be  translated  by  al3 ;  as,  cr  ift  reiser,  alG  i.1) 
(not  one  id)).  Observe  that  tute,  as  well  as  al3,  is  preceded  by  a  comma. 

REMARKS.  As  before  stated,  most  monosyllables  take  the  Umlaut  in  forming  the 
degrees  of  comparison.  The  exceptions  to  this  rule  are  best  learned  by  practice  ; 
however,  as  dictionaries  generally  fail  to  give  the  degrees  of  comparison,  we  state 
here  all  exceptions,  not  as  a  subject  for  study,  but  merely  for  reference  in  case  of  doubt. 
Some  of  the  adjectives  given  below  will,  from  their  nature,  rarely,  if  ever,  be  found  in 
the  comparative  or  superlative  degree ;  yet  we  include  them,  in  order  to  make  the  list 
complete. 

1.— The  diphthong  cm  does  not  take  the  Umlaut  in  comparison  ;  as,  fhu,  dull,  flauer, 
flaueft ;  laut,  loud,  lauter,  lauteft. 

2.— The  following  adjectives  may,  or  may  not,  take  the  Umlaut;  viz.,  tang,  fearful ; 
blafj,  pale;  bumm,  stupid;  fromm/  pious;  glatt,  smooth;  flar,  clear;  naji,  wet;  jart,  tender; 
although  banger,  bummer,  frommer,  Harcr,  Barter,  and  the  corresponding  superlatives  are 
preferred  by  good  speakers. 

3. — The  following  adjectives  should  not  take  the  Umlaut;  viz., 


barfd),  harsh 

frolj,  glad 

nacft,  naked 

f^roff,  steep 

Man!,  bright 

f)ol)t,  hollow 

platt,  flat 

ftatr,  stiff 

blof),  bare 

§olb,  amiable 

plump,  clumsy 

ftols,  proud 

brat),  good,  brave 

fa$I,  bald 

rafci),  quick 

ftraff,  stretched, 

tight 

bunt,  variegated 

faro,,  scanty 

rot),  raw 

ftumm,  dumb 

fcumpf,  dull,  close 

fnapp,  tight 

runb,  round 

ftumpf,  blunt 

fabe,  insipid 

latym,  lame 

facfyt,  soft,  gentle 

toff,  mad 

fal)l,  fallow 

lafj,  weary 

fanft,  gentle 

»oH,  full 

falfc,  fallow 

lofe  (loS),  loose 

fatt,  satiated 

waljr,  true 

fatf$,  false 

matt,  tired 

ft&faff,  slack 

tounb,  sore 

ffa$,  flat 

morfd),  decayed 

f^Ianf,  slender 

ja^m,  tame 

50  THE   NUMERAL. 

THE    NUMERAL. 


CARDINAL   NUMBERS. 


1.  etns  (etn,  etne,  etn) 

20.  jtDanjtg 

2.  gtt)ei 

21.  cin  unb  jtoonjig 

3.  bret 

22.  gmei  unb  gttmngig  :c 

4.  iner 

30.  brctgtg 

5.  ftinf 

40.  t>ter$t(j 

6.  fedf)8 

50.  fiinf5tg 

7.  fteben 

60.  fedfjjig 

8.  arf)t 

70.  ftebjig 

9.  neun 

80.  ad)t3tg 

10.  gel)n 

90.  ncunjig 

11.  elf 

100.  I)itnbcrt 

12.  $tt)olf 

101.  Ijunbcrt  unb  einS 

13.  brct$clnt 

102.  (junbcrt  unb  gftet  :c, 

14  mcrjelnt 

200.  g\Detf)unbcrt 

15.  fiinf$cl)n 

300.  breiljunbert  :c. 

16.  jedjjeljn 

1000.  taufenb 

17.  fteb^eljn 

2000.  jmcttaufcnb 

18.  acijtje^n 

100,000.  rmnbcrttaufenb 

19.  neunseljn 

1,000,000.  cine  TOUicn'. 

REMARKS.  1.  —  AVhen  simply  counting,  we  use  the  form  einS  for  one  ;  but  when  one 
limits  a  noun  and  is  not  preceded  by  the  article  (or  a  similar  word),  it  is  rendered  by 
etn,  einc,  cin  and  declined  like  the  indefinite  article,  from  which  we  distinguish  it, 
when  necessary,  by  laying  a  greater  stress  on  it  in  speaking,  arid  by  writing  it  with  a 
capital  initial,  or  by  underlining  it  (or,  in  print,  "spacing"  it);  as,  cin  3)2ann,  a  man  ; 
Gin  9J2ann  or  cin  SJtann,  one  man.  In  all  other  instances  it  is  declined  like  an  aijec- 
tive  ;  as,  cincr  tncincr  ^Bruter,  one  of  my  brothers  ;  ber  e  in  e  SQtanti,  the  one  man,  etc. 

The  English  one,  placed  after  an  adjective  to  avoid  the  repetition  of  a  substantive, 
is  not  translated  in  German  ;  as,  Has  he  a  new  coat?  §at  er  etnen  neuen  9?ocf  ?  Yes,  he 
has  a  new  one,  ja,  cr  I)at  eincn  ncucn. 

2.  —  When  gtrct,  two,  and  tret,  three,  are  not  preceded  by  an  article  (or  a  word  simi- 
larly declined)  they  add  cr  in  the  genitive  ;  as,  tie  95riefe  stretcr  (fcreter)  grcunfcc,  the  letters 
of  two  (three)  friends.  The  other  cardinal  numbers  arc  sometimes  (tyuntert  and  taufenb 
always)  declined,  when  used  as  nouns  ;  as,  tide  £>unberte,  many  hundreds  ;  auf  often 
SStctcn  frtecfren,  to  crawl  on  all  fours  ;  thus  also  jrcci  and  tret  (in  the  dative)  :  idj  l^obe  e3 
ober  £)reien  gefagt,  I  have  said  it  to  two  or  three  (persons). 


THE    NUMERAL.  51 

3.— The  English  -fold  is  rendered  by  =fadj;  as,  einfad),  single,  jweifad),  two-fold,  etc.; 
time  in  the  expressions  one  time  (once),  two  times,  etc.,  is  rendered  by  2RaI,  which  is 
usually  suffixed  to  the  cardinal  numbers ;  as,  ctnmal,  groetmal  jc. 

4.—  Ginerlei,  of  one  kind  ;  jroeierlet,  of  two  kinds,  etc.,  are  formed  from  the  cardinals 
by  adding  crlei. 

5.— In  multiplying,  the  Germans  generally  use  the  verb  in  the  singular  number ;  as, 
brcimal  brei  i  ft  neun,  three  times  three  are  nine. 

6. — §untert  and  taujenb  are  used  without  an  article ;  as,  tyunbert  'Solbaten,  a  hundred 
soldiers. 

ORDINAL   NUMBERS. 

The  ordinal  numbers  are  formed  from  the  cardinals  by  adding  t 
from  two  to  nineteen,  and  ft  from  twenty  upwards;  to  those 
letters  are  further  added  the  terminations  required  by  adjec- 
tives, the  ordinals  being  declined  as  such  ;  as,  bcr  DlCtte  £ftg, 
the  fourth  day ;  cut  JtDCtter  2>erfud),  a  second  attempt.  £)er  erfte, 
the  first,  and  bet  bdttC,  the  third,  are  irregular,  and  bcr  ftdjte, 
the  eighth,  does  not  add  t  (not  acljtte). 
ber  crfte,  the  first  bcr  gttjjlfte,  the  twelfth 

bcr  Stoeite,  the  second  bcr  breijcljntc,  the  thirteenth 

bcr  brttte,  the  third  bcr  mer$ef;ntc,  the  fourteenth 

bcr  Dtertc,  the  fourth  bcr  jtDan^tgfte,  the  twentieth, 

bcr  fiinfte,  the  fifth  .   ber  cin  unb  gttw^igftc,  the  twenty- 

bcr  fcd)8te,  the  sixth  first 

ber  fiebcrttc,  the  seventh  ber  jtoct  lino  gtoanjigfte,  the  twenty- 

bcr  arf)te,  the  eighth  second 

ber  nciintc,  the  ninth  ber  Ijunbertfte,  the  hundredth 

bcr  SdintC,  the  tenth  bcr  Jtucifjlinbcrtftc,  the  two-hundreth 

ber  elftc,  the  eleventh  ber  tailfcnbfte,  the  thousandth. 

REMARKS.  1.— Instead  of  ber  britte,  alette/  jwonjlgfle  jc.  SC^cil,  the  third,  fourth 
twentieth  part,  etc.,  v/e  can  use  nouns  formed  from  the  ordinal  numbers  by  the  addition 
of  cl;  as,  cin  'Drittcl,  Sicrtcl/  fj^cms^ftcl  :c. 

2.—  Half  as  an  adjective  ij  IjalOet,  e,  c§,  and  is  preceded  by  the  article ;  as,  ein  fyalfccr 
Gutbcn,  half  a  florin  ;  a3  a  noun  it  13  bic  $filftc ;  as,  bte  §alfte  von  tier  ift  jaci,  the  half  of 
four  is  two.  2InbcrtI)aI5  i3  one  and  a  half;  fcrittcfyalO/  two  and  a  half ,  etc.;  thcso  com- 
positions aro  indeclinable ;  as,  nacfj  anbertl)al&  ^al)rcn,  in  a  year  and  a  half.  Eut  we 
can  say  equally  well,  cm  unb  cin  fyalb,  jwet  unb  cin  I; alb  jc.,  in  which  case  I;al&  is  declined. 

3.— Firstly,  sacondly,  etc.,  are  rendered  by  erftenS,  ^n>etten3,  britteng,  gwanjlgftenS  jc.; 
these  adverbs  are  derived  from  the  ordinals. 

4.— Scr  ttrictticlftc?  means  ivho  (or  which)  of  the  number?  £>cr  wiemclfte  ift  I/cute? 
What  day  of  the  month  is  to-day  ? 


52 


THE    PRONOUN. 


THE    PRONOUN. 

^ronomen  ober  gurtoort.) 

PERSONAL  PRONOUNS. 


FIRST  PERSON. 


SINGULAR. 

Nom.  id)  I 

Gen.    tttetncr  of  me 

Dat.    mir  to  me 

Ace.     mid)  me 


PLURAL. 

tt)tr  we 

itnfer  of  us 

ung  to  us 

un$  us 


SECOND  PERSON. 


SINGULAR. 

Nom.  bll  thou 

Gen.    bciner  of  thee 

Dat.     bir  to  thee 

Ace.     bid)  thee 


PLURAL. 

tljr  you 

eucr"  of  you 

end)  to  you 

cud)  you 


MASCULINE. 

Nom.  er        he 
Gen.    feiner  of  him 
Dat.     ifjrn      to  him 
Ace.     iljtt       him 


THIRD  PERSON. 
SINGULAR. 

FEMININE. 

fte  she 

tljrer  of  her 

tfyr  to  her 

fte  her 

PLURAL. 
ALL  GENDERS. 

Nom.  fie       they 
Gen.    ifyrer   of  them 
Dat.     ifjnctt  to  them 
Ace.    fie       them 


NEUTER. 

e$  it 

feiner  of  it 

ifym  to  it 

e8  it 


The  dative  and  accusative  of  the  first  and  second  persons, 
mil*,  tni(l)  2C.,  are  often  used  reflexively,  and  must  be  rendered 
in  English  by  myself,  etc. ;  as,  id)  UnterftdltC  mid),  I  amuse  my- 
self;  twr  imterljaltCU  IW3,  we  amuse  oui-selves. 


THE    PRONOUN.  53 

In  the  dative  and  accusative  of  the  third  person  we  have  in 
German  a  reflexive  form,  fidf),  which  remains  unchanged  in  all 
genders  and  both  numbers;  as, 

Dat.  fid),  to  himself,  to  herself,  to  itself,  or  to  themselves. 
Ace.  fid),  himself,  herself,  itself,  or  themselves. 

Observe  its  use  in  the  following  examples:  3o'f)amt  faitft  fid)  cilt 
SBtld),  John  buys  (for)  himself  a  book;  but:  3of)Cmn  tauft  iljm  cut 
23ud),  John  buys  a  book  for  him  (i.  e.  another  person) ;  cr  fdjneibet  fid), 
he  cuts  himself ;  cr  fdjnetbct  il)it,  he  cuts  him  (another)  ;  fie  imterljalten 
fid),  they  amuse  themselves;  fte  untcrljalten  fie,  they  entertain  them 
(their  friends).  (See  also  "Reflexive  Verbs.") 

In  the  plural,  f  i  d)  is  often  used  in  place  of  c  i  n  a  n  b  e  r  /  one  another  (or  each  other) ; 
aa,  fie  Itcten  fid),  they  love  one  another ;  but  this  practice  is  not  recommended ;  say, 
fie  licfcen  e  i  n  a  n  b  c  r  for  they  love  one  another,  and  fie  Uefcen  f  i  d;  or  f  i  d)  f  e  1 6  ft  for  they 
love  themselves. 

The  word  felbft/  self,  is  often  used  with  the  personal  pronouns  for  greater  emphasis ; 
as,  id)  fciv3te  c§  fclfcft,  I  said  it  (so)  myself ;  id)  fenne  mid),  I  know  myself;  id)  fenne  mid) 
fclfcft,  I  know  myself,  with  more  emphasis.  When  the  genitives  feiner,  tfyrer,  are  used 
reflexively,  fcl&ft  is  often  added  to  avoid  ambiguity ;  as,  cr  fd)amt  fid)  feincv  felfcft,  he  is 
ashamed  of  himself ;  er  fd)amt  fid)  feiner,  he  is  ashamed  of  him  (another  person). 

Iii  German,  bit  (sing.,  thou)  and  tfyr  (plur.,  you)  are  used  in 
elevated  style,  in  poetry,  and  in  addressing  near  relatives, 
intimate  friends,  and  children.  In  addressing  other  persons, 
©te  (they)  is  used,  and  the  verb  is  put  in  the  third  person 
plural,  whether  we  address  one  person  or  more.  To  distinguish 
it  from  jte,  they,  it  is  written  with  a  capital  initial. 

EXAMPLES.  In  speaking  to  a  brother,  intimate  friend,  etc. ,  we  say, 
bit  bt'Jt  ftctfjicj,  thou  art  diligent ;  in  speaking  to  two  or  more  brothers, 
etc.,  we  say,  iljr  fcib  fteigifl,  you  are  diligent;  in  speaking  to  one  or 
more  other  persons  (not  relatives,  intimate  friends,  etc.),  we  say,  @ie 
finb  ffcifjig,  (literally}  they  are  diligent;  while  in  English,  in  either 
of  those  cases,  we  should  say,  you  are  diligent. 

The  address  by  b  u  and  i  T)  r  may  be  called  the  familiar  address,  that  by  ©  i  e  the 
polite  address.  Tho  use  of  the  familiar  address  towards  strangers  is  a  sign  of  ill- 
breeding,  and  should  be  carefully  avoided. 

Among  some  of  the  German  peasantry  3I)r  is  used  in  addressing  one  or  more  persons. 


54  THE    PRONOUN. 

Personal  pronouns  must  agree  in  gender  with  the  noun  in 
whose  place  they  stand  ;  as,  2Bo  tft  bl6  3^ber  ?  Where  is  the 
pen]  @te  tft  aitf  bem  £tfd)e,  slw  (not  it)  is  on  the  table, 
because  geber  is  feminine;  thus  also,  fyabcn  Sic  belt  ©arteit 
Have  .you  seen  the  garden  1  $a,  id)  Ijabe  1 1)  11  QG- 
yes,  I  have  seen  him  (belt  ©artdl). 


However,  in  the  case  of  nouns  denoting  persons  (except  fca3  ^inb),  the  pronouns  are 
usually  made  to  agree  with  the  sex  rather  than  the  grammatical  gender ;  as,  tro  ifl  ta§ 
Sftafcdjen?  Where  is  the  girl  ?  <£ie  (instead  of  c  §)  ijl  in  ber  Stufy,  she  is  in  the  kitchen. 

REMARKS.  1. — The  pronoun  tcfy,  I,  when  not  beginning  a  sentence,  is  written  with  n 
small  initial. 

2.— The  genitives  of  the  personal  pronouns  aro  contracted  with  the  prepositions 
tyalben,  rccgen,  um — nriflcn  (see  "Prepositions");  the  final  r  is  then  changed  to  t,  and  to 
unfer  and  cucr  t  is  added ;  as,  tneinetf>al&en,  on  my  account,  for  aught  I  care ; 
n,  for  his  sake  ;  um  unjertnritten,  for  our  sake. 


POSSESSIVE  PRONOUNS. 
They  are  the  following  : 

metn,  my  bein,  thy  fetn,  his  or  its    il)r,  her 

imfer,  our  euer,  your  ifyr,  their  (3fjrf  your) 

When  a  possessive  pronoun  is  joined  to  a  noun  (as  "possessive 
adjective  ")  it  agrees  with  it  in  gender,  number,  and  case,  and 
is  declined  in  the  singular  like  the  indefinite  article,  in  the 
plural  like  an  adjective  not  preceded  by  an  article  (see  para- 
digm, top  of  page  44),  as  will  be  observed  in  the  following 

PARADIGM. 

SINGULAR.  PLURAL. 

MASC.  FEM.  XEUT.  ALL  GENDERS. 

Nom.  metn  metnc  mein  my  metne 

Gen.   metrics  tnetner  meines  of  my  mctner 

Dat.    mcincm  meiner  meinent  to  my  meinett 

Ace.    mctnen  metne  mein  my  metne 

In  the  declension  of  unfer  and  cucr  one  e  may  be  dropped ;  thus  we  say:  unfrc,  «nfer3 
or  unfre§,  undent  or  urifren  jc. ;  in  the  same  manner,  cure,  citern  or  curen  :c. 


THE    PRONOUN.  55 

The  remarks  (page  41)  on  the  repetition  of  the  definite  article  before  two  or  more 
nouns  refer  also  to  the  possessive  pronouns;  as,  mein  3Sater  unb  tnctne  Gutter,  my  father 
and  mother. 

When,  however,  a  possessive  pronoun  is  not  joined  to  a 
noun,  but  refers  to  a  noun  understood,  and  is  not  followed  by 
an  adjective,  it  is  declined,  in  the  singular  and  plural,  like  an 
adjective  not  preceded  by  an  article  (see  page  43),  and  agrees 
with  the  noun  understood  in  gender  and  number ;  as,  28 ef fen 

©ctrten  ift  fcfyoner,  m  e  t  n  e  r  ober  b  e  t  n  e  r  ?    Whose  garden  is 

finer,  mine  or  thine'?     ^ft  ba$  few  35itrf)  ober  1 1)  t  e  $?     Is  that 
his  book  or  hers  ? 

Instead  of  this  form  of  the  possessive  pronoun  we  may  use 

bcr,  bte,  ba$  meine  (beine  jc.),  or  ber,  bte,  ba$  meintge  (beintge  ic.). 

In  the  foregoing  examples  it  would  be  equally  good  to  say  : 

SBeffcn  ©artcn  ift  fdjoncr,  ber  metne  (or  ber  metnige)  ober  ber 
betne  (or  ber  bcinige)  ?    3ft  ba$  feht  33ncf)  ober  ba$  tf)re  (or  ba$ 

tfyrige)  ?     2JJetne  and  metntge  2C.  are  declined  like  an  adjective 
preceded  by  the  definite   article   (see  page  45),   and  agree  in 
gender  and  number  with  the  noun  understood.    Here  follows  a 
list  of  the  different  forms  in  the  nominative  case  : 
tnetner,    meinc,  meine$  or  ber,  bte,  ba§  metne  or  mcttttcje  mine 
barter,      bchtc,     beineg  betne    or  betnige    thine 

fetner,      (etne,     femes  feme    or  fetntae    his 

tfyrer,        tl)re,       tl)re§  t^re     or  tfjricje      hers 

unf(e)rer,  unfre,    nnfre§  unfre  or  unfrige    ours 

,    ett(e)rer,   cure,      eitre^  cure     or  citrtge     yours 

tljrcr,        t()re,       tt)re6  ifyre     or  tfjrtge      their 

(31)rer,     3fjre      3^re§  3^re    or  3^rtgc    yours) 

REMARKS.  1. — When  a  posses%ive  pronoun  stands  in  the  predicate  after  the  verb  to 
be,  denoting  simply  ownership,  it  may  be  left  unchanged  like  an  adjective  used  predica- 
tively  ;  as,  bcr  £>ut  ift  mctn ;  but  this  cannot  be  done,  when  the  subject  is  expressed  in  an 
indefinite  manner,  by  e3,  ba3,  or  fcie§  (see  "  Demonstrative  Pronouns") ;  as,  rcem  gel)6rt 
btejer  §ttt?  To  whom  does  this  hat  belong  ?  er  ift  mein ;  but,  e  §  (b  a  3)  ift  meiner  or  fcer 
ntcini{ie. 

2.— 1)a3  9ftetntgc,  <Dcinu3C  jc.,  may  be  used  as  nouns ;  as,  ify  I;afce  fca§  SOicintgc  gct^an, 
I  have  done  my  share;  tote  fcefinbett  ftdj  bte  S^rtgen?  How  are  the  members  of  your 
family? 


56  *  THE    PRONOUN. 

3. — The  possessive  pronouns  must  correspond  to  the  form  of  address  ;  when 
"familiar",  we  use  bein  in  addressing1  one  person,  cuer  in  addressing  more  psrsons ; 
when  "polite",  we  always  use  3fyr»  writing  it  with  a  capital  initial  to  distinjuish  it 
from  ii)rt  her  or  their;  as,  bu  fyaft  beine  33udjer,  U;r  fyafct  cure  25ud)er,  Sie  I;afcen  3fyre 
23udjer/  you  have  your  books. 

In  letters,  all  personal  and  possessive  pronouns  referring  to  the  person  addressed 
must  begin  with  a  capital  initial ;  as,  25u,  £>id),  £)ein,  3^r  (you),  Gud)  :c. 

4. — The  definite  article  is  often  usei  in  German,  where  in  English  we  employ  a  pos- 
sessive pronoun ;  as,  idj  Ijalte  tie  3-cber  nut  bcr  redden  §anb,  I  hold  the  pen  with  my  right 
hand ;  cr  ^>at  ben  5lrm  gebrocfycn,  or,  reflexively,  er  fyat  [id)  ben  2lrm  gefcrodjen,  he  has 
broken  his  arm.  This  use  of  the  article  is,  of  course,  admissible  only  when  no  ambi- 
guity is  likely  to  result  from  it. 

5. — Expressions  like  "a  friend  of  mine"  are  rendered  cin  greunb  won  mtr  or  cincr 
meiner  greunbe. 

DEMONSTRATIVE  PRONOUNS. 

They  are  btefer,  this ;  jctter,  that ;  ber,  this  or  that.  Siefer 
and  jcucr  are  declined  like  adjectives  not  preceded  by  an  article 
(see  page  43). 

PARADIGM. 

SINGULAR.  PLURAL. 

MASCULINE.  FEMININE.  NEUTER.  ALL  OENDEES. 

Nom.  btefer  bicfc  btcjeS  this  bicfe     these 

Gen.  btejeS  btejcr  bte(e3  of  this  biejcr    of  these 

Dat.  l)tf fern  btefer  btefem  to  this  btefcn  to  these 

Ace.  bicfcn  btefe  btefeS  this  btefe     these 

liefer  is  frequently  used  for  the  English  that ;  jener  is  used  to  denote  remote  objects 
and  as  a  contrast  to  bieferf  especially  when  bicker  and  jencr  express  the  English  the  latter — 
the  former,  thin  one— that  one. 

Instead  of  btefer  or  jener,  we  may  use  bcr,  bie,  bd3.  When 
joined  to  a  noun,  its  declension  is,  throughout,  that  of  the 
definite  article,  from  which  it  is  distinguished  by  being  pro- 
nounced with  greater  emphasis ;  when  not  joined  to  a  noun, 
it  differs  from  the  article  in  the  following  cases  : 

SINGULAR.  PLURAL. 

MASC.  FEM.         NEUT.  ALL   GENDERS. 

Gen.  beffen    bercn    beffen  of  this  or  that  one       bercn,  of  these  or  those 
Dat.  bcnen,  to  these  or  those 


THE    PRONOUN.  57 

The  neuter  biefe§  (usually  the  short  form  bte$),  bd$,  or  the 
personal  pronoun  e3  is  often  used  with  the  verb  to  be  as  what 
we  may  call  an  indefinite  (or  "anticipative")  subject.  These 
words  then  retain  the  same  form,  whatever  may  be  the  gender 
or  number  of  the  noun  or  pronoun  in  the  predicate,  while  the 
verb  agrees  with  the  latter  in  person  and  number  ;  as,  bct§  bin 
id),  that  is  I;  ba$  ftaret  il)t,  that  was  you;  bte$  ift  mcitt  @ai> 
ten,  this  is  my  garden;  bd§  ift  nnfere  Scfyule,  that  is  our  school; 
C3  ftnb  bcine  $reunbe,  it  ig  y°ur  friends,  etc.  When  e$  is  the 
subject,  and  a  personal  pronoun  the  complement,  03  is  placed  after 

the  verb ;  as,  Qd)  bin  e$,  bn  bift  e$,  er  ift  e$,  toir  ftnb  e$,  ifjr 
feib  c^,  fie  ftnb  e$. 

DETERMINATIVE  PRONOUNS. 

They  are  the  following:  berjenige,  or  ber,  he  (who) ;  berfelbe, 
the  same  ;  and  f old)er,  such. 

1. — ©erjcnige  (tt)el{^er)  is  the  antecedent  of  a  relative  and 
corresponds  to  the  English  he  (who),  bicjenige  to  she  (who), 

bci$jcntge  to  it  (which). 

It  may  stand  alone  or  limit  a  noun  (as,  berjenige  iUfenfd), 
tt>cld)er,  the  "man  who)  and  is  declined  as  if  its  first  part  bet 
were  the  definite  article,  and  *jenige  a  separate  adjective,  as 
will  be  observed  in  the  following 

PARADIGM. 

SINGULAR.  PLURAL. 

MASCULINE.  FEMININE.  NEUTER.  ALL  GENDERS. 

Nom.  t)crjtemge  biejemge  basjenige  btejentgen 

Gen.  bcejcnigcn  berjemgcn  bc6jcntgcn  bcrjcntgett^ 

Dat.  bcmjcmcjcn  berjcmgcn  bemientgcn  bcnjcntgen 

Ace.  bcnfemgm  btejentge  ba€>jentgc  btcicntqcn 

Instead  of  berjenige  K.f  we  may  also  use  ber,  bie,  ba§;  when 
it  i>s  joined  to  a  noun,  is  declined  like  the  definite  article; 


58  THE  •PRONOUN. 

when  it  stands  alone,  its  genitive  and  dative  is  that  of  the 
demonstrative  pronoun  ber,  bte,  bd$  (see  page  56),  except  the 
genitive  plural,  which  is  bcrcr  instead  of  bcrcn.  Be  careful 
never  to  use  beret  except  when  it  is  the  antecedent  of  a  relative ; 
we  say,  c$  Qtbt  b  e  r  e  It  t)icle,  there  are  many  of  them  (L  e.  of 
those  we  were  speaking  of) ;  but,  e§  gibt  b  C  r  e  r  triele,  toddle 
tmmer  in  2lrmutt)  leben,  there  are  many  of  those  who  always 
live  in  poverty. 

Be  careful,  also,  not  to  use  berer  before  a  noun,  because  ber,  tic,  ba§,  when  joined  to 
a  noun,  is  always  declined  like  the  definite  article,  as  above  stated;  as,  c3  (jibt  ber 
Airmen  (not  bercr  ?lrmcn)  mclc,  rccldje  immer  in  9Zotfi.  leben,  there  are  many  "of  those" 
poor  people  who  always  live  in  need. 

2. — 3)erfdbe,  biefclbc,  baSfelbe  answers  to  the  English  the 
same,  and  is  declined  like  bcrjcntgc  ;  as,  berfclbc,  bcSfclbdt,  pi. 

btcfclbcn  :c.;  e.  g.,  berfelbe  (or  berfelbc  3Kcmn),  ben  id)  gcftcnt  faf), 

the  same  (the  same  man)  that  I  saw  yesterday.  It  need  not? 
like  bcrjenige,  always  be  followed  by  a  relative  clause  ;  as,  fair 

iDofyntcn  in  bcmfclben  (or  bent  ncmtlidjen)  §aiife,  we  lived  in  the 

same  house. 

REMARKS.  2)erfelfce  is  often  used  in  place  of  the  personal  and  possessive  pronouns 
of  the  third  person  (cr,  fie,  e3,  fetn,  tf)r);  viz., 

1. — Arbitrarily;  as,  tdj  fennc  £>errn  92.  unb  ac^te  benfelben  (or  ac^te  ifyn),  I  know  Mr.  N. 
and  esteem  him. 

2.— For  the  sake  of  euphony ;  as,  id)  fyafoe  greet  <5<J)roejlern,  fennen  Sie  bieyel^en  (instead 
of  <Ste  fte)?  I  have  two  sisters,  do  you  know  them? 

3.— To  avoid  ambignity ;  as,  ber  SDtann  Itebt  jetnen  greunb  me^r,  a(3  ben  So^n  begfelten, 
or  a!3  be]f  en  <Scf>n  (bcffen=gen.  of  demonstrative  pronoun  ber),  the  man  loves  his  friend 
more  than  the  latter's  son ;  for,  if  we  said  feinen  <5ol)n,  we  should  be  in  doubt  as  to 
whose  son  is  meant ;  if  we  meant  the  man's  own  son,  we  ought  to  say  feinen  cicjcncn  <5ol)n. 

4.— The  substitution  of  berfelbe  :c.  should  always  take  place  :  (a)  When  a  possessive 
pronoun  of  the  third  person  refers  to  an  inanimate  object ;  as,  ba3  23udj  ift  uodj  neu, 
afcer^ber  Cinfcanb  be3feI6en  (better  than  fein  Gtnfcanb)  ift  befdjmukt,  the  book  is  yet  new,  but 
Hs  binding  is  soiled.  (6)  When  a  personal  pronoun,  governed  by  a  preposition,  refers 
to  an  inanimate  object;  as,  n?a§  tftun  <2ie  in  it  ber  9?abcl?  what  are  you  doing  with  the 
needle?  3$  nafie  mit  bcrfelbcn  (not  mit  i  fir),  I  sew  with  it ;  more  frequently,  however, 
we  use  a  pronominal  adverb  (see  page  62),  id)  ndl}e  b  a  in  i  t ,  I  sew  thercicith. 


THE    PRONOUN.  50 

3.  —  Solder,  foW)e,  fold)e8,  such,  is  declined  like  an  adjective  ; 
as,  cm  foldjer  3J?enfd),  foldje  2JJenfd)en,  such  a  man,  such  men. 
Sometimes  it  is  abbreviated  to  fold),  which  is  indeclinable  and 
followed  by  the  indefinite  article,  as  in  English  ;  as,  fold)  Ctlt 


The  English  as  after  such  is  rendered  by  the  German  relative  weld)er  (or  bet)  ;  as, 
fud)e  joldje  greunbe,  incite  bir  im  Ungliicf  treu  fcletfcen,  seek  such  friends  as  remain  true 
to  you  in  misfortune.  But  in  case  of  a  comparison  between  objects  of  the  same  kind, 
as  is  translated  by  rote  ;  as,  fie  fjafcen  jold)e  ^cbern,  ttne  nnr,  they  have  such  pens  as  we 
(have). 

NOTE.     The  remarks  (page  41)  on  the  repetition  of  the  definite  article  before  two  or 
more  nouns  refer  also  to  the  demonstrative  and  determinative  pronouns;   as, 
£>au3  unb  btcfer  ©artcn  ;  bcrjcni^e  5ftann  unb  biejenige 


RELATIVE  PRONOUNS. 

They  are  toelcfyer,  or  ber,  who,  which,  that  ;  fter,  he  who  ; 
and  tt>d$,  which. 

1.  —  3BeI(^cr  is  declined  as  follows  : 

SINGULAR.  PLURAL. 

MASC.  FEM.  NEUTER.  ALL  GENDERS. 

Nom.  vuclcfycr  UJclcfje  tucIc^eS  who  or  which  toelcfye 

Gen.  be  [fen  bcrcn  beffcn  whose  or  of  which  beren 

Dat.  toelcfiem  ir»eic!^er  lt)el(^em  to  whom  or  to  which  benen 

Ace.  ft)eld)cn  tDelcije  H>el(^e6  whom  or  which  toclije 

Instead  of  H)eId)Cr  we  may  use  ber,  Me,  ba$.  As  a  relative, 
it  is  declined  like  the  demonstrative  pronoun  bet,  bie,  bd$  (see 
page  56),  i.  e.,  it  is  declined  like  the  definite  article,  except 

that  the  genitive  is  beffen,  beren,  beffen,  pL  beren,  and  the 
dative  plural  benen  ;  as,  bcr  §err,  toeldjer  (or  ber)  mid)  6efnd()te, 

the  gentleman  who  visited  me;  ber  3J?ann,  beffen  (Sarten  t(f| 
Ijente  QCfcl)Cn  ()Clbc,  the  man  whose  garden  I  have  seen  to-day; 

bie  ^ran,  toeldjcr  (or  bcr)  btefe^  §a"^  flc^rt,  the  lady  to  whom 
this  jiouse  belongs  ;  bie  ^ftnber,  beren  SSater  angefommen  tft,  the 

children  whose  father  has  arrived,  etc. 


60  THE    PRONOUN. 

2BeId)er  and  fcer  may  be  used  indiscriminately,  except  when  the  antecedent  is  a 
personal  pronoun  of  the  first  or  second  p3rson  (or  <Sie,  polite  address),  in  which  case 
fccr  (not  U5eld)er)  must  be  used,  and  we  either  repeat  the  pronoun  after  the  relative,  or 
use  the  verb  in  the  third  person  ;  as,  id),  fccr  id)  bid)  lie&c,  or  id),  fccr  bid)  lie&t,  I  who  love 
you ;  Sic,  fcer  Ste  mid)  fennen,  or  Sie,  fcer  mid)  fennt  (addressing  one  gentleman),  you 
who  know  me. 

SScUfccr  has  in  the  genitive  ioeld)c§,  tocldjcr,  ir»cld)e3,  plur.  gen.  rccld)er,  dat.  rccld)en,  when 
it  is  joined  to  a  noun  (which  is  seldom  the  case) ;  as,  £um&ctfct,  n>  c  I  d)  c  3  ojropcn  2)ianne3 
SScrfe  id)  gclefcn  fyabc,  literally:  Huniboldt,  "whose  great  man's"  works  I  have  read. 
Do  not  mistake  the  relative  n>eld)er  for  the  interrogative,  whose  genitive  is  clwavs 
lDcld)c§  :c.  (see  "Interrogative  Pronouns"). 

In  German,  the  relative  must  not  be  omitted;  as,  the  man  I  saw  yesterday,  fccr 
2Eann,  ro  c  I  d)  c  n  (or  fccn)  id)  gcficrn  fal). 

The  indeclinable  fa,  now  obsolete,  except  in  poetry,  was  formerly  often  used  in  place 
of  n)eld)er. 

2. — 33cr  corresponds  to  the  English  he  who,  tDQ$  to  what 
(that  which) ;  antecedent  and  relative  being  expressed  by  one 
word.  They  are  declined  as  follows  : 

MASC.    AND  FEM.  NEUTER. 

Noin.  rocr  (he)  who  ftiaS  what 

Gen.  tiJeffen          whose  ft>eJ3  of  what 

Dat.  ftiem  to  whom  [wanting] 

Ace.  ft)  en  whom  ft)  a  5  what 

REMARKS.  1. — 23cr  has  never  an  antecedent  before  it,  but  it  is  often  followed  by 
the  determinative  frcr,  fcic,  fca?,  in  the  principal  sentence ;  we  may  say,  rccr  jufriefccn  ift, 
i)l  glurflid),  or  rccr  jufricbcn  i|l,  fc  c  r  tfl  gliirfHd) ;  but  the  determinative  must  be  expressed, 
when  it  is  not  in  the  same  case  as  n?cr ;  as,  rccr  jufriefccn  ijr,  fc  c  n  ncnnc  id)  cjlurfltd),  him 
that  is  contente  1  I  call  happy ;  or  we  may  change  the  mode  of  expression  and  say 
fccnjcntijcn,  fccr  (or  n>cld)cr)  jiifrtcbcn  ifr/  ncnnc  id)  gtudltd).  -Thus  also  with  n>a3 ;  ira§  id) 
fajjc,  ifl  (or  ba5  tfl)  n?al)r,  what  I  say  is  true;  but,  we  must  say,  n?a3  id)  fo$c,  fcc  |fen 
Bin  id)  gcwtp,  I  am  sure  of  what  I  say ;  (not  n>a§  id)  facjc,  &in  id)  gcwip). 

2.— SSa3  is  use!  for  the  English  that,  when  it  refers  to  an  indefinite  antecedent, 
such  as  allcS,  ntdHS,  cttcaS,  fca6  ic. ;  as,  attcS,  n?a§  id)  rccijj,  all  that  I  know ;  id)  crinncre 
ir.icl)  fccffcn,  iras  cr  f.ijtc,  I  remember  what  he  said ;  fca3  93cflc,  t^aS  cr  tbun  fann,  the  best 
(that)  he  can  do. 

3.— The  genitive  tt>cy  is  seldom  used,  except  in  the  compounds  rce|$al&,  tocfjrocgcn, 
wherefore. 

INTERROGATIVE   PRONOUNS. 

They   are   U)cr,    who;    ftaS.,  what;    iDeldjer,   iDCldjC, 
which  ;  and  \va$  fitr  Ctlt,   what  kind  of. 


THE    PRONOUN.  61 

1.  —  2Ber  and  tDd$  are  declined  like  the  relative  pronouns 
tt>cr  and  ti)d3,  and  correspond  to  the  English  interrogatives  who 
and  what;    as,   tDCt   ift  ba  ?   who  is   there;    tt)d$   fdgen  <£te? 
what  do  you  say  1 

2.  —  2BeId)Cr,  tDClcfye,  tt)eM)e$  corresponds  to  the  English  which, 
and  is  either  joined  to  a  noun  or  refers  to  a  noun  understood  ; 

as,  tteldjer  ©djiifer  ift  ber   ffeifjtgfte?  which  scholar  is  the 

most  diligent  ]    ©etn  S3rilber  ttdr  ()ter,  your  brother  was  here  ; 
ttteWjer  ?  which  (one)  1 

It  is  declined  like  biefer,  biefe,  btcfcS;  viz., 


SINGULAR. 

PLURAL. 

MASC. 

FEM. 

NEUT. 

ALL  GENDERS. 

Nom.  toetcfycr 

toeldje 

n)d^e§ 

which 

tt>eld)e 

Gen.     toeldjes 

tt)eld)cr 

tt)dc^e3 

of  which 

tt>dd)cr 

Dat.    toelcfyem 

ttjelc^er 

melc^em 

to  which 

tt)eld)cn 

Ace.    ft>elcf)cn 

tt)Cl(^C 

ttjelc^cs 

which 

tneUe 

3.  —  In  tod§  fitr  etn,  what  kind  of,  only  the  word  em  is 
declined;  when  joined  to  a  noun,  it  is  declined  like  the  indefinite 
article,  otherwise  it  is  declined  like  an  adjective  not  preceded 
by  an  article  (see  page  43);  as,  IWS  fiir  etn  33aum  ift  bte$? 
what  kind  of  a  tree  is  this  ?  (Sin  Strnboum,  a  pear-tree  ;  ba 
ftefyt  Ctn  35aimt,  there  stands  a  tree;  ft)d$  fiir  Cttter?  what 
kind  of  "a  one'1? 

Before  nouns  denoting  material  and  before  nouns  in  the 
plural  tt>d§  fiir  is  used  without  etn  }  ti>d$  fiir  53rob  ift  bteS  ? 

what  kind  of  bread  is  this  I     $8d$  fitr  SSdltme  ftnb  bte$  ?  what 
kind  of  trees  are  these. 

The  neuter  w  c  Ic&  e3  is  often  used  as  what  we  may  call  an  "  indefinite  interrogative" 
before  jctit,  to  be,  without  regard  to  the  gender  or  number  of  the  noun  following  the 
verb  ;  as,  weldjeS  ift  fcer  fdjcnfte  33cmm,  toetdje3  ift  btc  fcefte  g^fcer,  n>eld)e3  finb  tie  fc^5n|lcn 
95aumc  jc. 

PRONOMINAL  ADVERBS.  The  adverbs  ba,  there,  and  ti)0,  where,  are 
frequently  united  with  prepositions  (the  forms  bar  and  ftor  being  used, 
when  the  preposition  begins  with  a  vowel)  ;  as, 


62  THE    PRONOUN. 

baran,  at  it,  at  them  tnoran,  at  which 

barauf,  on  it,  on  them  tnorauf,  on  which 

babiird),  by  it,  by  them  tnoburd),  by  which 

bartn,  in  it,  in  them  tnorin,  in  which 

bamit,  with  it,  with  them         tiiornit,  with  which 
bat>on,  of  it,  of  them,  etc.          ttxroon,  of  which,  etc. 
They  correspond  in  form  to  the  English  adverbs  thereat,  thereon, 
w  lie  re  at,  whereon,  etc. 

The  compounds  of  bd  are  used  in  place  of  personal  pronouns  of  the 
third  person  (and  demonstrative  pronouns)  governed  by  prepositions, 
when  the  pronouns  do  not  refer  to  persons  ;  as,  id)  fyabe  etn  iSild)  nub 
Icfc  barin  (or  in  bemjelben,  not  in  il)m),  I  have  a  book  and  read  in 
it  (therein) ;  or  in  the  plural,  id)  fyabe  23iid)cr  unb  leje  barin  (in  them) ; 
§crr  9t.  ift  ttcrjdjrounbcn,  fyabcn  ®ie  ntdits  banon  (for  uon  bem)  gel)6rt? 
Mr.  N.  has  disappeared,  have  you  heard  nothing  of  it  (i.  e.,  of  his 
having  disappeared)  ? 

In  like  manner,  the  compounds  of  tl>0  are  used  in  place  of  relative 
pronouns  governed  by  prepositions,  when  the  relatives  do  not  refer  to 
persons;  as,  ba3  ift  alleC<,  tno  mi  t  (for  mit  tncld)cm)  id)  3Imcn  bicncn  fann, 
that  is  all  I  can  serve  you  with.  However,  when  objects  preceded  by 
the  definite  article  are  referred  to,  the  use  of  the  preposition  with  the 
relative  is  preferable  to  the  use  of  the  adverb  ;  thus,  ba-3  $au?,  i  n 
in  c  I  d)  c  m  id)  tnolnte,  the  house  in  which  I  live,  is  better  than  ba$  §an$, 
ID  o  r  i  n  id)  tnofyne,  although  either  form  is  in  common  use. 

Interrogatively,  the  compounds  of  tno  are  used  in  place  of  tnaS 
governed  by  a  proposition ;  as,  tnouon  (for  non  tna3)  fprid)t  cr  ?  Of  what 
does  he  speak  ? 

INDEFINITE  PRONOUNS. 

They  are :  ^eittcmb,  somebody ;  9ttcmanbr  nobody ;  ^cbcr- 
ItlCinn,  everybody;  indllr  one,  (the  French  on). 

3cmanb,  Daemanb  and  ^c^^^ann  add  8  in  the  genitive ;  the  dative  and  accusative 
arc  the  same  as  the  nominative  ;  as,  cr  ifi  vJttcmant:?,  3cfccrmatm§,  greunb,  he  is  nobody's, 
everybody's,  friend  ;  i<$  ^abe  cs  3emanb  gegcben,  I  have  given  it  to  some  one,  etc.  The 
forms  Scmantem,  Dltemanbem  in  the  dative,  and  3emanben,  Dtieraanbcn  in  the  accusative, 
arc  often  used,  but  are  not  recommended. 

OJtan  is  used  only  in  the  nominative  singular,  and  is  translated  in  English  by  one, 
ice,  you,  they,  people,  or  by  the  passive  voice ;  as,  man  faojt  (on  dit),  one  says,  they  say, 


THE    PRONOUN.  63 

people  say,  it  is  said ;  man  fagt  auf  beut fd),  we  say  in  German ;  man  fagt  auf  cnglifd),  you 
say  in  English. 

OTHER    INDEFINITE    PRONOUNS. 
(Often  named  "Indefinite  Numerals.") 

alter,  atle,  aUe$,  all  manner,  manege,  mancfye^,  many  a 

beibe,  both  ntd)t3,  nothing 

eintcjer,  ctntge,  etntges,  some  tnel,  much 

ctroa3,  something  toeldjer,  roeldje,  toetdjeS,  some 

jeber,  jebe,  jebe3,  each,  every  ttjentjj,  little 

fein,  fcine,  tent,  no,  none 

REMARKS.  1. — Sitter  is  declined  like  bicfer;  before  a  pronoun  it  may  be  abbreviated 
to  all;  as,  ad  metne  Slrbeit,  all  my  labor.  It  is  not  followed  by  an  article;  as,  otte 
23ud)er,  all  the  books.  When  all  means  whole  it  is  translated  by  cjanj ;  as,  cr  war  ben 
ganjen  Stacj  l)ter,  he  was  here  all  day ;  atte  S^e  means  every  day.  The  neuter  atteS 
means  everythinj  (sometimes  everybody) ;  it  is  generally  written  with  a  small  initial, 
although,  in  this  sense,  used  as  a  noun;  as,  id)  fyafce  attc§  cjefcl)en,  I  have  seen  every- 
thing ;  attcS  gcfyt  aufS  Sanb,  everybody  goes  to  the  country. 

2.— 23eibe  is  declined  like  an  adjective  and  often  preceded  by  the  definite  article  or  a 
pronoun  ;  as,  beibe  <£d)roeftern,  bie  (or  inctne  :c.)  beiben  <5d)ir>cftcrn,  both  (my,  etc.)  sisters. 

3. — (5tn?a3  is  often  used  as  an  adjective  before  a  noun  in  the  singular;  as,  id)  fyabe 
ctroaS  33rob,  I  have  some  bread  ;  usually,  however,  etroa§  is  omitted ;  as,  id)  fyafcc  23rcb. 
An  adjective  in  the  neuter  gender  is  often  used. as  a  noun  after  etn?a3  and  nid)tS ;  as, 
ctroa3  92cuc3,  something  new ;  nid)t3  @utc§,  nothing  good.  Gtroa3  and  ntd)t§  are  indeclin- 
able, and  although,  in  the  sense  of  something  and  nothing,  they  are  substantives,  they 
are  usually  written  with  a  small  initial.  Gtroag  is  sometimes  abbreviated  to  rca3f 

4. — 3eber  is  declined  like  biejcr  and  is  sometimes  preceded  by  the  indefinite  article ; 
as,  jebe3  Slinb,  or  cin  jcbe§  $inb,  every  child  ;  ein  ^eber,  every  one.  Each,  in  the  sense 
of  apiece,  is  rendered  by  ba3  <Stud! ;  as  funf  Gent  bag  ©tfirf,  five  cents  apiece. 

5.—  ®ein  is  declined  like  the  numeral  ein,  one;  as,  f)at  er  fein  ©elb?  Gr  Ijat  feineS; 
has  he  no  money  ?  He  has  none. 

(5. — SSicI  and  u>ema,,  expressing  quantity,  are  not  declined ;  as,  tie!  ©elb,  much 
money ;  njcntcj  ©clb,  little  money ;  we  may  also  say,  c.  g.,  ticl  $inber  cften  me^r,  aI3  iccnig 
Etnber,  many  children  eat  more  than  few  children,  because  here  the  children  are  spoken 
of  collectively.  When  wet  or-»cnicj  express  number,  or  are  preceded  by  an  article 
or  pronoun,  they  are  declined  like  adjectives  ;  as,  fciele  ^inber  finb  unbantfcar  gecjcn  tl)re 
Gltern,  many  children  are  ungrateful  towards  their  parents ;  tna§  icitt  cr  mit  bem  Dieten 
©elbc  anfana,cn?  What  will  he  do  with  so  much  money? 

S0Jel)r,  more,  is  indeclinable  in  the  singular ;  the  plural  mefyre  or  mel)rere  means 
several  and  is  declined  like  an  adjective;  as,  tnet;rere  greunbe,  several  friends;  meift, 
most,  is  preceded  by  the  article ;  as,  bie  mciften  9J2enfd)en,  most  people. 

SBcmcjer  (the  comparative  of  tt»eniv3)  should  not  be  declined;  as,  id)  fya&e  irentger  (not 
ircniv3cre)  ^reunbc,  aI3  bu,  I  have  fewer  friends  than  you. 

7.— 2Beld)cr  is  often  used,  colloquially,  for  the  English  some,  referring  to  a  noun 
previously  expressed  ;  Ijafcen  <£te  93rob  ?  id)  fyafcc  roeld)e3 ;  have  you  (any)  bread  ?  I  have 


64  THE    VERB. 

some;  $at  cr  Stcpfcl?  cr  fcat  rccldje;  has  he  any  apples?  he  has  some;  but  the  use  of 
einigcr  :c.,  or  the  genitives  bcfien,  bcren  is  preferable  ;  as,  id?  fyabe  cinige3,  cr  f>at  bcren. 

8. — The  English  expressions  not  anybody,  net  anything,  not  any,  must  be  rendered 
by  Dtfiemanb,  mdjtS,  fcin,  respectively,  not  by  ntdjt  3cmanb,  tudjt  etn?a3,  m*t  ctntgcS  jc.; 
as,  I  have  not  seen  anybody  (anything)  idj  ^abe  SHiemanb  (nidjte)  gefefyen  ;  they  have  not 
any  money,  fie  tya&en  fetn  ©elb.  Interrogatively,  either  form  may  be  used,  although  it 
does  not  always  convey  precisely  the  same  meaning ;  as,  fyaben  Sic  nidit  ^cmanb  gefcfjen, 
or  fyabcn  Ste  9?icmanb  gcfel)en?  Ija&en  <3ie  ntd}t  ctroa3  (Mb,  or  fyafccn  <5ie  fetn  ©clb?  For 
fein,  in  the  sense  of  not  a  single  one,  we  may  always  say  nidjt  ein ;  as,  er  ftat  nid)t  cincn 
Better,  or  cr  fyat  fetnen  Better, 


THE   VERB. 

33erbum  obcr  ^ettmort.) 

The  German  verb  has  five  moods ;  viz.,  the  indicative, 
subjunctive,  conditional,  imperative,  and  infinitive.  The  con- 
ditional mood,  present  and  present  perfect,  is  merely  another 
form  for  the  subjunctive,  past  and  past  perfect,  respectively, 
corresponding,  in  many  instances,  to  the  English  potential 
formed  with  the  auxiliaries  should  and  would. 

For  the  use  of  the  moods,  and  the  German  rendering  of  all  foims  of  the  English 
potential,  see  the  remarks  on  the  "Use  of  the  Moods",  under  "Remarks  on  the 
Verb,"  following  the  list  of  irregular  verbs.  It  will  be  found  that  the  use  of  the  sub- 
junctive differs  in  the  two  languages,  especially  in  the  present  (and  present  perfect), 
while  a  future  subjunctive  is  not  known  in  English ;  it  is  therefore  impossible,  in  a 
paradigm,  to  place  an  exact  English  equivalent  opposite  the  German  forms  ;  yet,  as  it 
seemed  desirable  to  use  an  English  form  which  would  be,  in  a  measure,  analogous  to 
the  German,  we  have  given,  in  the  present  and  past,  the  subjunctive  of  the  English 
verb  (after  if),  and  in  the  future  the  English  indicative. 

The  German  verb  has  the  same  tenses  as  the  English. 

On  their  use,  as  far  as  it  differs  in  the  two  languages,  see  the  remarks  on  the  "  Use 
of  the  Tenses,"  under  "Remarks  on  the  Verb,"  following  the  list  of  the  irregular 
verbs. 

The  German  verb  has  no  progressive  form,  and  no  auxiliary 
corresponding  to  the  English  do;  for,  /  am  praising,  I  do 
praise,  the  Germans  have  but  one  form,  tdf)  lobe  (I  praise) ;  thus 
also,  do  I  praise  ?  lobe  id)  (praise  I)  ]  I  do  not  praise,  tcf)  lobe 
md)t  (I  praise  not)  ;  do  I  not  praise?  lobe  id)  lltcfyt  (praise  I  not) ? 


THE    VERB. 


65 


AUXILIARY   VERBS. 

The  verbs  fydbett,  to  have,  few,  to  be,  and  toerbctt,  to  become, 
besides  being  used  as  principal  verbs,  serve  also  as  auxiliaries. 

For  the  "Auxiliaries  of  Mood"  see  "Use  of  the  Moods"  under  "Remarks  on  the 
Verb." 

Conjugation  of  the  auxiliary  verb 

§aben,  to  have. 


INDICATIVE    MOOD. 


PRESENT.  1) 


PRESENT  PERFECT. 


id)  Ijabe 

I  have 

id)  fyabe 

I  have         ") 

bu  fyaft 

thou  hast 

bu  fjaft 

thou  hast 

er  Ijat 
tntr  fjaben 
ifjr  fyabt  2) 

he  has 
we  have 
you  have 

er  ^at 
tt)tr  Ijaben 
iftr  I)abt 

£     he  has 

-  —           i,             r«3 
*S     we  have 

you  have 

fte  Ijaben 

they  have 

jte  ^abeu 

they  have  * 

PAST. 

PAST  PERFECT. 

id)  Ijatte 

I  had 

id)  ^atte 

I  had 

bu  Ijatteft 

thou  hadst 

bu  Ijatteft 

thou  hadst 

er  liatte 

he  had 

er  fyatte 

•§     he  had            r^ 

tttr  fyattcu 

we  had 

tuir  Ijatteu 

^3    we  had           r3 

iljr  Ijattet 

you  had 

itjr  Ijattct 

you  had 

fie  fatten 

they  had 

fie  Ijatteu              they  had 

FUTURE. 

FUTURE  PERFECT. 

id)  toerbe3) 
bu  ttnrft 

I  shall        •> 
thou  wilt 

id)  roerbe    " 
bu  ttnrft 

I  shall         •} 

^        thoU    Wilt           rrf 

er  VDtrb 
tt)tr  tnerbeu 
ifyr  toerbct 
fte  tnerben 

S   he  will         1   £ 
J|.  we  shall       PJ 
you  will 
they  will    ^ 

er  itJtrb 
tt)ir  luerben 
i^r  tnerbet 
fie  trerbeu  " 

^    he  will         [3 
£     we  shall          ^ 

$*                                          -Tl                          ^ 

^j     you  will       1  A 
they  will    - 

1)  The  names  of  the  tenses  and  a  few  other  grammatical  terms  used  in  this  book 
are  borrowed  from  William  Swinton's  "Grammar  containing  the  Etymology  and  Syntax 
of  the  English  Language." 

2)  Or   Ijabet.      See    remarks  following    the    paradigms   of   the    auxiliary    verbs 
(page  71). 

3)  See  Remarks  to  the  auxiliary  verb  roerfcen  (page  71). 


66 


THE    VERB. 


PRESENT. 

id)  f)abe         (if)  I  have 


SUBJUNCTIVE   MOOD. 

PRESENT  PERFECT. 


bu  fyabeft 
er  fyabe 
ttnr  tyabeu 
ifyr  fyabet 
fie  Ijaben 


thou  have 
he  have 
we  have 
you  have 
they  have 


id)  ptte 

(if)  I  had 

bu  fjdtteft 

thou  had 

er  Ijdtte 

he  had 

tt>ir  ^citteu 

we  had 

i^r  ^cittct 

you  had 

fie  Fatten 

they  had 

FUTURE. 

id)  voerbe     ^  I  shall 

bu  roerfcefl  thou  wilt 

er  rocrbe      I  S  he  will 

toir  tvcrbeu  i  ^  we  shall 

il)r  tDerbct  you  will 

fie  aoerbcn  ^  they  will 


id)  I)abe 

I     (if)  I  have 

bu  fyabeft 

ithou  have 

er  fyabe 

*g     he  have 

ttnr  Ijabeu 

"g    we  have 

ifjr  Ijabet 

you  have 

fie  Ijabeu 

they  have 

PAST  PERFECT. 

id)  fjatte 

(if)  I  had 

bu  f)d'tteft 

thou  had 

er  Ijd'tte 

^     he  had 

ttnr  fatten 

^    we  had 

iljr  fjd'ttet 

you  had 

fie  f)d'tteu 

they  had 

FUTURE   PERFECT. 

id)  toerbe    1 

I  shall 

bu  tterbeft 

,§     thou  wilt 

er  ttierbe 

^3=f-    he  will 

ttnr  merbcn 

£     we  shall 

CS 

il)r  roerbet 

iT    you  will 

fie  ttjerbeu  -* 

they  will 

id)  ttmrbe 
bu  noiirbeft 
er  ttmrbe 
tt)ir  ii>urben 
il)r  ttmrbet 
fie  ttmrbeu 


PRESENT. 
I  should 
thouwouldst 
;   he  would 
•.  we  should 
you  would 
they  would 


CONDITIONAL    MOOD. 

PRESENT   PERFECT. 


id)  ttmrbe    ^j  ^  I  should       ^ 

bu  miirbeft 

§  thouwouldst    r$ 

er  ttmrbe 

£  he  would        1  A 

ttnr  fDiirbcn 

£  we  should 

0 

i^r  ttmrbet 

^  you  would 

1 

fie  ttmrben  *  ^  they  would   J 

IMPERATIVE  MOOD. 
Ijabe  (bu)  have  (thou) 

l)abt  (if)r)  have  (you) 

fjabeu  ©te  have  (you) 


INFINITIVE  MOOD. 

Ijaben  to  have 

gefjabt  ^abeu         to  have  had 


Ijabenb       having 


PARTICIPLES. 


had 


THE    VtfRB. 


67 


REMARKS.  §Ctbctt  is  used  as  an  auxiliary  to  form  the  perfect 
tenses  of  all  transitive  verbs  in  the  active  voice,  of  the  re- 
flexive, impersonal,  and  some  intransitive  verbs. 

For  the  use  of  fdtt  with  other  intransitives  see  Remarks 
following  the 

Conjugation  of  the  auxiliary  verb 

@em,  to  be. 


INDICATIVE    MOOD. 


PRESENT. 

PRESENT  PERFECT. 

id)  bin 

I  am 

id)  bin 

I  have         ^ 

bu  bift 

thou  art 

bubift 

^     thou  hast 

cr  ift 

he  is 

er  ift 

S.    he  has 

ttrir  finb 

we  are 

loir  finb 

§     we  have 

if)r  feib 

you  are 

iljr  feib 

you  have 

fie  ftnb 

they  are 

fte  finb                    they  have   J 

PAST. 

PAST  PERFECT. 

id)  mar 

I  was 

id)  tt»ar 

I  had 

bu  nmrft 

thou  wast 

bu  tt>arft 

thou  hadst 

er  ttwr 

he  was 

cr  tucir 

%    he  had 

loir  rcarcn 

we  were 

loir  inaren 

§     we  had 

ifyr  toaret 

you  were 

il)r  traret 

you  had 

fie  roar  en 

they  were 

fte  toaren              they  had 

FUTURE. 

FUTURE   PERFECT. 

id)  tnerbe     ' 

I  shall         -| 

id)  tuerbe     ^         I  shall 

bu  tturft 

thou  wilt 

bu  lotrji          •§     thou  wilt 

er  ttrirb 

«   he  will 

er  itjirb        !  ^    he  will 

tt)ir  vocrbcn 

"S                  in             1    _Q 

«—  we  shall 

tt)ir  mcrben  |  *£    we  shall 

U)r  Voerbet 

you  will 

iljr  toerbet       ^    you  will 

fie  tocrbcn 

they  will     < 

fie  tncrbcn   J         they  will 

J 


68 


THE    VERB. 


PRESENT. 

id) 

fet 

(if)  I  be 

bu 

feieft 

thou  be 

er 

fet 

he  be 

ttnr  feten 

we  be 

il)r 

feiet 

you  be 

nc 

feien 

they  be 

PAST. 

irf) 

ttcire 

(if)  I  were 

bu 

toareft 

thou  were 

er  n)dre 

he  were 

ttrir  rocircn 

we  were 

ii,t 

toaret 

you  were 

^ 

ttiaren 

they  were 

FUTURE. 

id) 

ftierbe     • 

I  shall 

bu 

toerbeft 

thou  wilt 

er  aierbe 

«  he  will          ,   a 

ttir  tt)erben 

^-  we  shall         ^ 

ifyr  tuerbet 

you  will 

fte 

merbcn   j 

they  will     ' 

cucim 

PRESENT. 

Wft 

toiirbe    ^ 

I  should          ^ 

bu 

tuiirbcft 

thou  wouldst 

er  miirbe 

s  he  would 

tt)ir  iDiirbcn 

•%-  we  should 

iljr 

roiirbet 

you  would 

fie 

tniirben  * 

they  would 

SUBJUNCTIVE    MOOD. 

PRESENT   PERFECT. 


id)fei 

((if)  I  have 

bu  feieft 

^     thou  have 

er  fei 

£     he  have 

noir  feten 

g     we  have 

iljr  fetct 

you  have 

fte  feien 

they  have   - 

PAST  PERFECT. 

id)  tncire 

(if)  I  had 

bu  ttareft 

thou  had 

er  uocire 

.§-     he  had 

tt)ir  tDdren 

g     we  had 

ifjr  Riaret 

you  had 

fie  ttjciren 

they  had 

FUTURE  PERFECT. 

id)  tnerbe 

I  shall 

bu  tuerbeft 

•S     thou  wilt 

cr  aierbe 

7T    he  will 

tuir  tncrben 

•§•     we  shall 

i^r  tnerbet 

g^    you  will 

fte  tnerben   ^ 

they  will 

L    MOOD. 

PRESENT  PERFECT. 

id)  ftiirbe    1 

I  should         ^ 

bu  triirbeft 

•5  thou  wouldst 

er  miirbe 

^  ^  he  would 

tntr  iniirben 

"tr  we  should 

i^r  tniirbet 

Z  you  would 

fte  tniirbcu 


they  would 


IMPERATIVE    MOOD. 

fet  (bu)  be  (thou) 

fctb  (ifjr)  be  (you) 

feten  ®tc  be  (you) 


INFINITIVE    MOOD. 


feiu 
geinefen  fetn 


to  be 

to  have  been 


feteitb        being 


PARTICIPLES. 


gcti)cfcu        been 


THE   VERB.  G9 

REMARKS.  Setn  is  used  as  an  auxiliary  to  form  the  perfect 
tenses  of  such  intransitive  verbs  as  imply  a  change  of  condition 
or  a  motion  from  or  towards  an  object  or  place  \  as,  id)  bin 
QCnefen,  I  have  recovered ;  er  t  ft  gefomtuen,  he  has  come. 

Some  verbs  implying  motion,  however,  are  conjugated  with  I)dbett, 
when  it  is  not  stated,  from  which  place  the  motion  started,  or  to  which 
it  was  directed,  or  how  far  it  extended;  as,  id)  fyabe  ^tttet  ©tiinben 
gerttten,  I  have  been  riding  two  hours;  but,  id)  bin  nad)  bet  ®tabt 
(jertttcn,  I  rode  (have  ridden,  see  ''Use  of  Tenses")  to  town ;  id)  bin 
gtrei  Sftetlen  ttett  gerttten,  I  rode  two  miles. 

®etn  is  also  used  with  a  few  other  intransitive  verbs  ;  as,  bleiben,  to 
remain,  gelingen,  to  succeed,  etc. 

Some  verbs  which,  as  intransitives,  are  conjugated  with  fein,  are 
sometimes  used  with  a  transitive  meaning,  and  then  take  tyaben  as  their 
auxiliary. 

Any  further  rules  that  might  be  given  on  the  use  of  fyaben  and  fein 
would  bewilder  the  beginner  rather  than  aid  him.  Practice  will  train 
his  ear  to  the  use  of  the  proper  auxiliary.  All  good  dictionaries  insert 
the  word  l)dben  or  fein  (or  the  letter  Ij  or  f)  after  each  verb,  or  at  least 
they  insert  an  f  after  those  verbs  that  take  fein  as  an  auxiliary.  Verbs 
that  may  be  conjugated  with  either  fyabett  or  fein,  as  above  stated,  have 
both  I)  and  f  attached  to  them,  or  they  are  given  separately. 

©cut  is  also  used  to  form  its  own  perfect  tenses  and  those  of  roerben;  id?  tin,  war 
gewefen,  wcrbe  gewefen  fein;  id)  bin,  war  geworben,  werbe  geworfcen  fein  (see  paradigms). 

Conjugation  of  the  auxiliary  verb 

SBerfaett,  to  become. 

INDICATIVE   MOOD. 
PRESENT.  PRESENT  PERFECT. 


id)  luerbe 

I  become 

id)  bin 

I  have 

bit  ttrirft 

thou  becomest 

bn  btft 

5=j     thou  hast 

er  ttrirb 

he  becomes 

er  tft 

•£     he  has 

unr  tnerben 

we  become 

toir  ftnb 

g     we  have 

iljr  nicrbct 

you  become 

ifu*  fetb 

05    you  have 

ftc  toerben 

they  become 

fte  ftnb                     they  have 

70 


THE    VERB. 


PAST. 

PAST  PERFECT. 

id)  tDiirbe  !)         I  became 

id)  tDar        ^         I  had          ^ 

bit  tDUrbeft           thou  becamest             bu  tDarft 

~     thou  hadst 

er  tDiirbe              he  became 

cr  tDar 

•g     he  had             S 

tDtr  tDurben          we  became 

tDir  tDaren 

2     we  had            g 

ifyr  tDurbet           you  became 

iljr  tDaret 

C3    you  had 

fie  tDurben           they  became                fie  tDaren     J         they  had     J 

FUTURE. 

FUTURE   PERFECT. 

id)  merbe     ^       I  shall 

id)  tDerbe     ^          I  shall         ^ 

bu  tDirjl           ^  thou  wilt 

0           bu  n?ir(l 

'£_    thou  wilt         S 

cr  tDirb         i  j§  he  will 

|           er  tDirb 

g     he  will 

tDir  tDcrben  I  §  we  shall 

o           tDir  tDerbcn 

we  shall 

ifjr  tDerbet       ~  you  will 

ifjr  tDerbet 

g     you  will 

fie  tDerbcn   \       they  will    - 

fte  tDerben   J  **    they  will    J  " 

SUBJUNCTIVE   MOOD. 

PRESENT. 

PRESENT  PERFECT. 

id)  tDerbe        (if)  I  become 

id)  fei          ^i 

(if)  I  have 

bu  tDerbefl            thou  become                bu  fciefl 

j-     thou  have 

S                               2 

e-r  tDerbe               he  become 

er  fei 

-g     he  have           = 

tDir  tDerbcn          we  become 

tDir  feien 

2     we  have           | 

ifyr  tDerbet            you  become 

ifjr  feiet 

09    you  have 

fie  tDerbcn            they  become                fie  feien       J         they  have  ^ 

PAST. 

PAST  PERFECT. 

id)  tDiirbe       (if)  I  became 

id^  tDare       ^    (if)  I  had          •) 

bu  tDurbefl           thou  became                bu  tDarefl 

c     thou  had 

er  tDiirbe              he  became 

er  tDare 

f>     he  had             g 

tDir  tDiirben          we  became 

tDir  uiaren 

2     we  had            "^ 

ifjr  iDiirbet           you  became                 iljr  tDdret 

05    you  had 

fie  tDiirben           they  became                fie  tDaren     J         they  had 

1)  For  tdj  tcurbc/  tu  wurbcfl,  er  wiitfe. 


THE    VERB. 


71 


tci)  tterbe     ^       I  shall 
bii  roerbeft       ^  thou  wilt 
et  toerbe       I  5  he  will 


FUTURE  PERFECT. 


tt)ir  fterben  i 
ifyr  tuerbct 
fie  tuerben   ' 


we  shall 
you  will 
they  will 


id)  toerbe     "] 

e   I  shall           ^ 

0 

bu  tuerbeft 

[S_  thou  wilt 

I 

a 

er  roerbe 

£   he  will 

§ 

8 

s 

nrir  tterbett 

".0 

g   we  shall 

o 

f3 

ifyr  toerbet 

S   you  will 

I 

fte  tterbcn  ^ 

39  they  wiU 

PRESENT. 

tc^  tuiirbe     ^  I  should 

bu  tniirbcft       ^  thou  wouldst 

er  uiiirbe      I  %  he  would 

tt)tr  ttjiirben     §  we  should 

i^r  ttiiirbct       -  you  would 

fte  itmrben  ^  they  would     J 

IMPERATIVE    MOOD. 
roerbe  (bu)  become  (thou) 

tuerbet  (t^r)          become  (you) 
nierben  ©ie          become  (you) 


CONDITIONAL   MOOD. 

PRESENT  PERFECT. 

icf)  ttwrbe     ^  ^  I  should        ^ 
bit  miirbeft    I   S  thou  wouldst 


er  tmirbe      !  g  he  would 
fair  ttmrbett  i  §  we  should 


ifyr  tDiirbet       g  you  would 
fte  ttwrbeu  J  ^  they  would 


N 

JI 


INFINITIVE    MOOD. 
UJerbcn  to  become 

gettjorbcn  fctn         to  have  become 


PARTICIPLES.  / 

tDcrbcnb        becoming  (jettjorben        become 

REMARKS.  SBerbcit  is  used  as  an  auxiliary  to  form  the 
future  tenses,  the  conditional  mood,  and  the  passive  voice  of 
all  verbs.  It  corresponds,  therefore,  to  the  English  shall, 
(will),  should  (would),  or  to  be;  but,  as  all  these  different 
meanings  could  not  be  given  in  a  paradigm,  we  bad  to  render 
it  to  become,  tbe  meaning  it  bas  when  used  as  a  principal  verb. 


The  forms  ifyr  Ijafcet  (indicative),  til  feiefl,  nrir  (fie)  feten,  ^  t»«efl/  i$r  roaret,  tu 
roarcft,  if>r  rcaret,  may  drop  the  e  of  the  termination ;  as,  Ija&t,  feifl,  fein,  roarft,  wart, 
ttjdrft,  ludrt.  Both  forms  are  quite  correct,  hut,  to  avoid  confusing  the  student  by 
introducing  two  forms  in  the  paradigms,  we  have  given  those  which  are  now  more 
frequently  used.  Generally  speaking,  the  e  is  apt  to  be  retained  in  solemn,  and  drop- 
ped in  familiar  style. 


72 


THE   VERB. 

REGULAR   VERBS. 
£oben,  to  praise. 

PARADIGM.—  ACTIVE  VOICE. 
INDICATIVE    MOOD. 


PRESENT. 

PRESENT  PERFECT. 

id)  lobe 

I  praise 

id)  fjabe       ^ 

I  have 

bu  lobft 

thou  praisest                bu  Ijaft 

thou  hast 

er  lobt 

he  praises 

er  I)at          i 

^     he  has              g 

ttnr  lobcu 

we  praise 

ttrir  I)aben 

"§j    we  have           § 

il)r  lobt 

you  praise 

ifjr  Ijabt 

you  have 

fte  loben 

they  praise 

fte  fyaben 

they  have 

PAST. 

PAST  PERFECT. 

id)  lobte 

I  praised 

id)  fyatte      ^ 

I  had           ^| 

bu  lobteft 

thou  praisedst              bu  fyatteft 

thou  hadst 

er  lobte 

he  praised 

er  ^atte 

^     he  had         s    g 

ttnr  lobten 

we  praised 

ttrir  fatten 

"§,    we  had            § 

tfyr  lobtet 

you  praised 

i^r  ^attet 

you  had 

fte  lobten 

they  praised                 fte  fyatteu     J 

they  had     * 

FUTURE. 

FUTURE  PERFECT. 

id)  tt>erbe 

-|        IshaU 

id)  ttjerbe     ^ 

I  shaU         ^ 

«-*                            ^ 

bu  ttrir  ft 

thou  wilt 

bu  ttrirft 

^g     thou  wilt         g 

er  ttrirb 

1  g   he  will 

,|            er  ttiirb 

^  ^    he  will             £ 

ttnr  tocrben  [  3.  we  shall 

tuir  tt>erbeu 

5     we  shall 

tfjr  ttjerbet 

you  will 

i^r  ttocrbet 

•i-i           i> 
cj     you  will           cs 

fie  toerben 

'        they  will     J 

fte  tnerben    J 

they  will     * 

SUBJUNCTIVE   MOOD. 

PRESENT. 

PRESENT   PERFECT. 

id)  lobe 

(if)  I  praise 

id)  I)abe 

(if)  I  have          ^ 

bit  lobeft 

thou  praise 

bu  Ijabeft 

thou  have 

_ 

er  tobe 

he  praise 

er  Ijabe 

^     he  have         !    g 

ttnr  loben 

we  praise 

tDtr  ^abeu 

^    we  have          '§ 

ttjr  lobet 

you  praise 

tfyr  Ijabet 

you  have 

fte  loben 

they  praise 

fie  ^aben 

they  have 

THE   VEEB. 


73 


PAST. 

PAST  PERFECT. 

id)  lobte 

(if)  I  praised 

id)  Ijfitte      ^i 

(if)  I  had 

bu  lobteft 

thou  praised                 bu  fjatteft 

thou  had 

•"d 

er  lobte 

he  praised 

er  ^atte 

2|     he  had 

L   S 

tt>ir  lobteu 

we  praised 

ttrir  ^citteu 

"§,    we  had 

'§ 

Ujr  lobtet 

you  praised 

iftr  Wttct 

you  had 

PH 

fte  lobten 

they  praised                  fte  fatten     J          they  had 

FUTURE. 

FUTURE  PERFECT. 

id)  uierbe 

I  shall 

id)  toerbe     ^         I  shall 

bu  toerbeft 

thou  wilt 

bu  tnerbeft 

thou  wilt 

1 

er  voerbe 

,   g   he  will 

.§           er  merbe      t  5-    he  will 

i  '§ 

ttir  roerben 

^2  we  shall 

tt)ir  tnerbeu  F.S    we  shall 

rpi 
p 

iljr  toerbet 

you  will 

i^r  toerbet      ^    you  will 

i 

fie  toerbcu   J 

they  will     ^ 

fte  toerbcn    f         they  will 

1    rCJ 

CONDITIONAL   MOOD. 

PRESENT. 

PRESENT  PERFECT. 

id)  ttmrbe    "i       I  should 

"\            tc^  tDiirbe     ^       I  should 

bu  unirbeft   [       thouwouldst  |            bu  tt)iirbeft 

j3  thouwouldst 

a 

er  ttwrbe 

g  he  would 

!  |        erttjurbe 

£?>  he  would 

i-'S 

unr  roiirbeu 

^2  we  should 

tbir  ttnirben 

,S  we  should 

1  ft 
s 

tljr  iiwrbet 

you  would 

iljr  ttjiirbet 

*£  you  would 

1 

fie  ttwrbeu  - 

'        they  would 

fte  triirbcn       "  they  would   - 

;  •** 

IMPERATIVE   MOOD. 

INFINITIVE   MOOD. 

lobe  (bu) 

praise  (thou)                 lobett                       to  praise 

lobt  (iljr) 

praise  (you) 

gelobt  Ijabett          to  have  praised 

lobett  @ie 

praise  (you) 

PARTICIPLES. 

lobcnb        praising  cjelobt        praised 

EEMARKS  TO  THE  PARADIGM.  The  infinitive  of  every  verb 
in  the  German  language,  except  fetlt,  ends  in  en.  Verbs  like 
l)dubcln,  to  act,  ttmnbent,  to  wander,  etc.  are  only  abbreviated 

from  the  old  forms  Ijcmbeleit,  ttmttbereu  K. 
4 


74  THE   TERB. 


By  dropping  the  termination  en  we  obtain  the  root  of  the 
verb  ;  thus  lob  is  the  root  of  lobcn  ;  and  to  this  root  the  termi- 
nations required  in  conjugating  the  verb  are  added.  As  will 
be  seen  from  the  paradigm,  the  terminations  are  the  following  : 


PRESENT 

PAST 

IXD. 

SUBJ. 

IXD.  AND  SUBJ. 

e 

e 

(e)te 

m 

eft 

(e)tefl 

(e)t 

e 

(e)te 

en 

en 

(e)ten 

(c)t 

et 

(c)tet 

en 

en 

(c)tcn 

IMPERATIVE.         PARTICIPLES. 


enb 
ge—  (c)t 


(c)t 
en 

The  e  before  ft  or  t  may  be  dropped  in  the  present  indica- 
tive, in  the  imperative,  and  in  the  past  participle,  whenever 
euphony  permits  ;  thus  we  may  say,  bit  lobeft  or  lobft,  cr  lobct 
or  lobt,  lobct  (if)r)  or  lobt,  fldobct  or  gdobt  ;  the  abbreviated 
form  is  now  in  general  use,  especially  in  the  past  participle,  and 
is  therefore  given  in  the  paradigm.  "When,  however,  a  harsh 
sound  would  result  from  the  elision  of  C,  or  the  termination 
could  not  be  distinctly  pronounced  without  it,  it  must  be 

retained  ;  as,  toartcn,  to  wait,  bit  ftartcft,  cr  inartct,  QCftartct. 

It  is  also  retained  in  the  present  subjunctive,  bit  lobeft,  if)r  lobct. 
In  the  past  tense,  the  e  before  tc,  tcft,  etc.,  must  be  dropped, 
whenever  euphony  permits,  in  the  indicative,  and  is  rarely 
retained  in  the  subjunctive;  as,  indicative,  id)  lobtc;  subjunctive, 
id)  lobtC  (same  as  indicative),  more  usual  than  lobetC.  But, 
as  above,  iDdttCte,  iUCtrtctcft,  etc.  in  both  indicative  and  sub- 
junctive. 

When  the  root  of  a  verb  ends  in  cl  or  cr,  the  e  of  en,  eft,  et,  is  always  dropped; 
as,  frantcln,  t->  act.  bu  banbclft,  cr  f>anbclt,  trir  fyanbeln.  In  the  first  person  of  the  present 
indicative,  iii  the  present  subjunctive,  and  in  the  singular  of  the  imperative,  such 
verbs  generally  drop  the  e  of  the  root  ;  as,  id?  bantle  (ind.  and  subj.)f  til  l?anbteft  (suhj.), 
fanble  (fcu)  JC.  ;  they  always  drop  the  c  of  the  infinitive  ending  en  ;  in  other  verbs, 
that  c  may  be,  but  is  not  usually,  dropped  when  preceded  by  a  vowel  or  a  silent  ty  ;  as, 
f  d?rein  for  fcfrreien,  to  cry,  glubn  for  gliiben,  to  glow. 


THE    VERB. 


75 


The  past  participle  takes  the  prefix  ge,  except  in  the  case  of 
those  verbs  whose  first  syllable  is  unaccented  or  has  only  a 
secondary  accent ;  as,  ftubt'teit,  to  study,  ftubirt,  not  geftubift ; 

bitcfyftabt'ren,  to  spell,  bucfyftabtrt;  Derlan'gen,  to  demand,  &er* 
langt ;  iiberfe'^en,  to  translate,  itberfe^t. 


In  compound  "separable' 
(see  "Compound  Verbs"). 


verbs  gc  is  inserted  between  the  prefix  and  the  verb 


EXAMPLES  FOR  PRACTICE — 
bcmten,  to  thank  ladjcn,  to  laugh 

Cjfaubcn,  to  believe          Icritcn,  to  learn 
I)i5ren,  to  hear  "   lieben,  to  love 

faitfcn,  to  buy  rcben,  to  talk 


fagen,  to  say 
ftriclctt,  to  play 
Derlangcn,  to  demand 
toarten,  to  wait 


In  conjugating  a  verb,  only  the  German  forms  should  be  recited ;  as,  id)  lofce,  bU 
lofcfl,  cr  lofct  :c.,  not  trf)  lobe,- 1  praise,  bu  lobft,  thou  praisest,  etc.;  of  course,  the  meaning 
of  the  German  forms  must  be  first  studied  and  understood. 

The  American  student  will  soon  find  that  the  conjugation  of  the  G  —  ~o~ular 
verb  does  not  present  any  difficulties. 


PARADIGM.— PASSIVE  VOICE. 


INDICATIVE    MOOD. 


PRESENT.                                                        PRESENT  PERFECT. 

tc!)  tterbe 

|       I  am          •)               id)  bin        ^ 

I  have 

bu  unrft 

thou  art 

^            b«-W 

s~>     thou  hast 

1 

cr  unrb 

[  S  he  is 

ertft 

g     he  has 

=  § 

ttrir  ttjerbcn 

1^  we  are 

3           ttrir  fittb 

^     we  have 

^ 

ifyr  tuerbet 

you  are 

i^r  feib 

>§     you  have 

2 

fie  voerbcn   - 

they  are      ^                 fie  fittb 

they  have   * 

PAST.                                                            PAST 

PERFECT. 

id)  tmtrbe 

II  was         "|               id)5  itmr       ^ 

e     I  had 

bu  tourbcft 

thou  Wast 

^           bu  trarft 

^     thou  hadst 

1 

er  nntrbe 

i  ^  he  was 

_g           cr  mar 

g     he  had 

'§ 

mir  itmrbcu 

*S  we  were 

ttnr  tnarcu 

£     we  had 

? 

if)r  antrbet 

you  were 

P< 
i^r  rnaret 

^§     you  had 

s 

fie  tx»urbeu 

they  were   '                 fie  tuareu 

they  had 

76 


THE    VERB. 


FUTURE.                                                               FUTURE  PERFECT. 

id)  iDcrbe 

1^   IshaU 

id)  tt)crbe 

|_    I  shall 

^  1 

bu  nrirft 
cr  urirb 
ttnr  mcrbcu 

.0   thou  wilt 
|  he  will 
•g  we  shall 

'g           bu  urirfi 
/|           er  tntrb 
p«           tt)ir  tucrbcn 

s     thou  wilt 

0 

^2     he  will 

"    O 

2.     we  shall 

I 
1"! 

iljr  iDerbet 
ftc  tocrben   - 

~  you  will 
they  will     •* 

,0           i^r  rocrbet 
fie  tuerben   J 

•g     you  will 
*§,    they  will 

1 
J  a 

SUBJUNCTIVE   MOOD. 

PRESENT.                                                           PRESENT   PERFECT. 

id)  tncrbe 
bu  mcrbcft 
cr  tncrbe 
tutr  wcrbcn 

(if)  I  be 
thou  be 
^   he  be 

-  o 

^  we  be 

id)  fet 

^           bu  fetcft 

^  S            er  'c^ 
§            mir  fetcn 

(if)  I  have 
2     thou  have 
g     he  have 
S     we  have 

•s 

a? 

.1 

P« 

ibr  mcrbct 

you  be 

if)r  fctct 

"o     you  have 

0 

_0 

ftc  tDerbcn    - 

they  be       ^                  fte  fctcn        ^  «    they  have   - 

|M 

PAST.                                                                       PAST  PERFECT. 

id)  itmrbe    ' 

(if)  I  were 

id)  ware 

(if)  I  had 

bu  tniirbcft    1        thou  were 
cr  voiirbe       1  ^g  he  were 
Votr  inurbctl  j  ^  we  were 
ifyr  trmrbct           you  were 

^           bu  ma'reft 
er  marc 
§            tptr  iDa'rcn 
il)r  ma'rct 

2     thou  had 
.  f     he  had 
we  had 
*o     you  had 

4 

i 

$ 

fte  UJiirben  '        they  were  *                 fte  marcn     J  «    they  had     J  * 

FUTURE.                                                               FUTURE   PERFECT. 

id)  tterbe 

tf   IshaU         ^ 

id)  tterbe     y^     I  slia11 

1 

bu  tncrbcft 
cr  vucrbe 
tntr  tt)crbcu 
i!)r  iDcrbct 
ftc  roorben 

%  thou  wilt 
|  he  will 
*-    we  shall 
^§   you  will 
they  will 

'g            bu  tterbeft    i 
cr  tDcrbe 
&          *nrir  ttjcrbcu 
£           t^r  mcrbct 
ftc  mcrbcu    ' 

g     thou  wilt 
"2     he  will 
2     we  shall 
•g     you  will 
^,    they  will 

have  been  prai 

THE   VERB. 


77 


PRESENT. 

tcf)  ttwrbe    "^ 
bit  ttwrbeft   1  % 
er  ttwrbe      1  g 
ttrir  ttwrben  i  £ 

I  should 
thou  wouldst 
he  would 
we  should 

\ 

tfyr  ixjiirbet      -§ 
fte  tuiirben  -* 

you  would 
they  would     ' 

& 

CONDITIONAL   MOOD.    " 

PRESENT  PERFECT. 

id)  ftiirbe        •§  I  should 
bu  ttwrbeft      "g"  thouwouldst 
er  ttmrbe        ^2  he  would 

o 

tt)ir  ttwrben  fi  we  should 
ifyr  ttwrbet  §  you  would 
fie  ttwrben  *§,  they  would 


IMPERATIVE    MOOD. 

uierbe  gelobt  be  (thou)  praised 
tt)erbet  gelobt  be  (you)  praised 
tt)erben@te(ielobtbe  (you)  praised 


INFINITIVE   MOOD. 


getobt  ttocrben 
gelobt  ttoorben 
[fein 


to  be  praised 

to  have  been 

[praised 


PARTICIPLES. 


git  lobcnb      to  be  praised1) 


gelobt       praised 


E/EMARKS.  The  passive  voice  of  German  verbs  is  formed  by 
means  of  the  auxiliary  verb  toerbett,  and  the  past  participle  of 
a  transitive  verb.  The  past  participle  of  trjerben,  when  used 
as  an  auxiliary,  is  toorben,  not  gett)0rben. 

The  forms  of  the  different  moods  and  tenses  will  be  readily 
understood  from  the  paradigm. 

The  auxiliary  to  bef  however,  in  connection  with  a  past 
participle,  is  not  in  all  cases  rendered  by  Herbert,  but  must 
frequently  be  translated  by  few.  The  following  remarks  will 
explain  the  use  of  tocrben  and  feat. 

1. — A  verb  can  only  be  considered  as  being  in  the  passive 
voice,  when  the  subject  is  represented  as  acted  upon  by  an  agent 
(expressed  or  understood),  in  which  case  we  may  convert  the 
passive  into  an  active  sentence  conveying  the  same  or  a  very 
similar  meaning;  as,  bread  is  baked  in  an  oven,  i.  e.,  people 
bake  bread,  etc.;  or  the  bread  is  being  baked  (is  baking)  i.  e., 

1)  See  " Participles"  under  "Remarks  on  the  Verb". 


78  THE    VERB. 

they  are  just  baking  it.     Here,  the  verb  is  in  the  passive  voice, 
and  to  be  must  be  rendered  by  tDCrbcn  }  as,  bft3  S3rob  ID  t  V  b  in 

ctnem  Of  en  gebacfcn,  or  ba$  Srob  ID  t  r  b  cben  gcbatf  en. 

2. — When,  however,  the  past  participle  expresses  a  state 
which  has  been  already  attained  by  the  subject,  we  cannot 
consider  to  be  with  the  participle  as  a  verb  in  the  passive  voice, 
but  the  participle  is  u.sed  as  a  participial  adjective  and  may 
often  be  replaced  by  another  adjective  of  similar  meaning ;  as, 
the  bread  is  baked,  i.  e.,  it  has  been  baked,  the  baking  is  over, 
the  bread  is  ready ;  to  be  is  then  rendered  by  fetn  J  as,  bd$ 
33rob  tft  gcbadm 

Observe  the  difference  in  the  use  of  tocrbcu  and  fetlt  in  the  following 
examples  : 

SaS  Simmer  totrb  jebcn  2ftorgen  gefegt,  the  room  is  swept  every 
morning,  i.  e.,  the  servant  sweeps  it;  baS  3imitter  iff  Qefcgt,  the  room 
is  swept,  it  is  clean. 

3i)  mcrbe  oft  Don  mctncn  greimbeu  eingelaben,  I  am  often  invited 
by  my  friends,  i.  e.,  they  often  invite  me;  id)  bin  jum  9Jltttag6cf|cn 
eingclabcil,  I  am  invited  to  dinner,  i.  e.t  I  have  an  invitation. 

3>te  5lrbeiter  tncrbeu  jeben  3lbcnb  bejafjlt;  the  workmen  are  paid 
every  evening,  i.  e.9  the  employer  pays  them;  bie  $lrbeiter  (tub  bejafylt, 
the  workmen  are  paid,  i.  e.  they  have  received  their  wages. 

2)ie  33anfen  to  u  r  b  e  n  Ijeute  urn  ein  ll^r  gefcfyloffen,  the  banks  were 
closed  to-day  at  one  o'clock,  i.  c.,  the  bankers  closed  them ;  bie  33anfcu 
tnarcn  geftcrn  gefdjloffcn,  the  banks  were  closed  yesterday  i.  e.,  they 
were  not  open  at  all. 

REFLEXIVE  VERBS. 

When  the  object  of  a  verb  is  a  personal  pronoun  which 
stands  for  the  same  person  or  thing  as  the  subject,  the  verb  is 
said  to  be  used  reflexively ;  as,  id)  roafcfje  mid),  I  wash  myself, 
bit  lobft  bid),  you  praise  yourself,  etc. 

In  English,  there  is  only  a  limited  number  of  verbs  that 
are  always  used  reflexively  ;  as,  to  betake  one's  self,  to  perjure 


THE    VERB.  79 

one's  self,  etc.;  in  German,  many  verbs  are  used  renexively 
that  are  not  accompanied  by  the  reflexive  pronoun  in  English ; 
as,  fid)  freuen,  to  rejoice,  fid)  fcfyamen,  to  be  ashamed,  fid)  fefynett, 
to  long,  etc. 

On  the  use  of  fid)  see  page  53. 

In  the  conjugation  of  a  reflexive  verb,  the  object  must  agree 
with  the  subject  in  person  and  number,,as  shown  in  the  follow- 
ing 

PARADIGM. 
<Sid)  freuen,  to  rejoice. 

PRESENT  INDICATIVE.  PRESENT  PERFECT  INDICATIVE. 


id)  freue  mid) 
bu  frcuft  bid) 
cr  freut  fid) 
tm'r  frcuen  mis 
iljr  frcut  cud) 
fte  freucu  fid) 

I  rejoice 
thou  rejoicest 
he  rejoices 
we  rejoice 
you  rejoice 
they  rejoice 

id)  fyabe  mid) 
bu  Ijaft  bid) 
cr  Ijat  fief) 
tt)ir  Ijaben  un3 
ifyr  Ijabt  cud) 
fte  fyabcn  ftd) 

I  have 
thou  hast 
2     he  has 
tr    we  have 

03 

you  have 
they  have    ' 

The  other  moods  and  tenses  are  conjugated  in  the  same  manner ;  as, 
id)  frelite  mid),  id)  Ijattc  mid)  gcfreut,  id)  uierbe  mid)  frcuen,  freue  bid),  freut 
cud),  freuen  ©tc  ftd)  :c. 

A  few  reflexive  verbs  take  the  object  in  the  dative  case  and  are 
conjugated  accordingly;  as,  fid)  getraucn,  to  venture,  id)  cjetraue  mir, 
bu  getrauft  bir,  er  netraut  fid)  jc.  (See  the  remarks  on  the  "Govern- 
ment of  Verbs"  i;nder  "Prepositions".) 


IMPERSONAL  VERBS. 

Verbs  denoting  natural  phenomena  are  used  in  the  third 
person  singular,  as  in  English ;  as,  e$  recjttet,  it  rains ;  e$ 
fdjtlCtt,  it  snows;  etc.  Thus  also,  e$  tft  iDttrm,  it  is  warm; 
C3  tft  fait,  it  is  cold;  etc. 

Many  verbs  are  used  impersonally  in  certain  idiomatic 
expressions ;  as,  e$  fdjldgt,  it  strikes  (the  hour) ;  c$  fdjellt,  it 
(the  bell)  rings ;  e§  l)dt  QCffopft,  it  (some  one)  has  knocked. 


80  THE    VERB. 

Some  verbs  used  impersonally  take  an  object  in  the  accusa- 
tive or  dative;  as,  e$  freut  mid),  I  am  glad,  C$  freitt  bid),  C3  ffCUt 

tljtt  jc.;  e$  fyungert  mid),  or  mid)  fjmtgert,  I  am  hungry;  e$  gel)t 

ntir  QUt,  I  am  doing  well;  C3  ift  mtr  Mt,  I  am  cold;  e$ 
gelingt  mir,  I  succeed;  etc.  Some  verbs  may  be  used  imperson- 
ally in  the  passive  ;  as,  e§  tflitrbc  gctflngt,  there  was  dancing. 

The  pronoun  e§  is  often  used  as  an  anticipative  subject, 
corresponding  to  the  English  there  ;  as,  e$  ift,  e$  fitlb,  there  is, 
there  are ;  e$  ttfCir  etmtial  ein  Snabe,  once  upon  a  time  there 
was  a  boy ;  sometimes  it  cannot  be  translated ;  as,  e^  tDtrb  etn 
(Sturm  fommett,  a  storm  will  come.  (See  also  page  57.) 

The  idiomatic  uses  of  c§  with  certain  verbs  are  found  in  all  good 
dictionaries. 

Impersonal  verbs  take  the  auxiliary  fyabcit  (see  Remarks  page  67), 
except  that  such  intransitives  as  may  be  used  personally  and  are  then 
conjugated  with  fetn,  take  fcirt  also  when  used  impersonally ;  we  say, 
e.  g.,  cr  ift  gegangen;  therefore,  also,  e§  ift  mtr  gut  gegangen,  etc. 

REMARKS.  G3  gibt  (lit.  "  it  gives ")/  followed  bjr  an  accusative,  is  an  idiomatic 
expression,  to  be  translated  by  there  in,  there  are,  and  denoting  existence  in  a  general 
sense ;  as,  c-3  {\ifct  nicf)t3  92cue§,  there  is  no  news ;  c3  gtbt  tttele  Seute,  tr*clc^c  ntc  gufrieben 
finb,  there  are  many  people  who  are  never  contented.  63  ifl,  c§  finb,  are  followed  by 
the  (real)  subject  in  the  nominative  (see  page  57),  and  are  employed,  when  definite 
objects  with  reference  to  a  particular  place  are  referred  to ;  as,  e3  ift  etn  ©arten  Ijinter 
bcm  §auje,  there  is  a  garden  behind  the  house ;  c3  ftnb  bret  SDidnncr  an  bcr  3:^ur,  there 
are  three  men  at  the  door.  It  is,  however,  not  practicable  to  give  rules  applying  to 
all  cases ;  the  student  must  learn  by  practice  as  to  when  c3  gifct  or  e§  ifl  (e3  ftnb)  is  the 
preferable  expression. 

COMPOUND  VERBS. 

In  German,  many  verbs  are  compounded  with  prefixes,  as 
in  English. 

Some  compound  verbs  always  remain  united  with  their 
prefixes ;  as,  befudjen,  to  visit,  id)  befucfye,  id)  kfudjte,  id)  fyabe 
kfud)t ;  t>erlangen,  to  demand,  id)  tierlange,  berlangte,  Ijabe 
t)crtangt;  uberfe^en,  to  translate,  id)  iibcrfe^e,  uberfe^te,  f)abc 
itbcrfcfet;  etc. 


THE    VERB. 


81 


Other  compound  verbs  are,  in  German,  sometimes  separated 
from  their  prefix ;  as,  anfommen,  to  arrive,  id)  fomme  an  ; 

eitffaufcu,  to  purchase,  id)  fcmfe  etn ;  etc. 

We  have  to  speak,  therefore,  of  separable  and  inseparable 
compound  verbs. 

The  prefix  of  a  separable  compound  verb  is  detached  from 
the  verb  in  the  present  and  past  tenses  of  the  indicative  and 
subjunctive,  and  in  the  imperative.  The  ge  of  the  past  parti- 
ciple (provided  that  the  verb  takes  ge,  see  page  75)  is  inserted 
between  the  prefix  and  the  verb. 

PARADIGM. 

2lufl)breu,  to  cease. 

INDICATIVE.  SUBJUNCTIVE. 

PRESENT. 

id)  fyore-auf      (if)  I  cease 
bit  [joreft  auf          thou  cease 
er  fybre  auf  he  cease 

ttrir  fjbreu  auf        we  cease 
tf)r  t)brct  auf          you  cease 
fte  fyoren  auf         they  cease 

AST. 

id)  fybrte  auf     (if)  I  ceased 
bu  fyorteft  auf        thou  ceased 
er  I)brtc  auf          he  ceased 
ttrir  tybrten  auf      we  ceased 
il)r  fjbrtet  auf        you  ceased 
fie  Ijbrtcn  auf        they  ceased 


id)  fybre  auf 

I  cease 

bu  l)brft  auf 

thou  ceasest 

er  l)brt  auf 

he  ceases 

ttnr  tjbreu  auf 

we  cease 

i()r  Ijbrt  auf 

you  cease 

fie  pren  auf 

they  cease 

id)  l)brte  auf 

I  ceased 

bu  Ijbrteft  auf 

thou  ceasedst 

er  fybrte  auf 

he  ceased 

tt)ir  fybrten  auf 

we  ceased 

i()r  l)brtet  auf 

you  ceased 

fte  !)brteu  auf 

they  ceased 

PAST  PARTICIPLE. 

aufgef)brt  ceased 


IMPERATIVE. 

I)bre  auf  cease  (thou) 

fybrt  auf  cease  (you) 

l)bren  ©ie  auf       cease  (you) 

In  a  principal  sentence,  the  prefix  is  generally  placed  at  the 
end  of  the  sentence  ;  as,  id)  fyorte  fjeitte  Uttt  ftebett  tlfjr  CWf, 
I  ceased  to-day  at  seven  o'clock. 


82  THE    VERB. 

Sometimes  the  prefix  is  separated  from  the  vero  even  by  a  subordinate  sentence ; 
when,  therefore,  the  beginner  finds  a  word  at  the  end  of  a  complex  sentence,  and  does 
not  know  what  to  make  of  it,  he  will  prefix  it  to  the  verb  of  the  principal  sentence 
and  look  in  his  dictionary  for  the  compound  verb ;  in  most  cases,  the  sense  will  then 
become  apparent. 

In  a  subordinate  sentence,  in  which  the  verb  is  placed  at  the 
end  of  the  sentence  (see  "  Arrangement  of  "Words"),  no  separa- 
tion takes  place,  and  the  prefix  remains  united  with  the  verb ; 
as,  tnentt  id)  auffyore,  when  I  cease ;  iDCtl  cr  ailf f)0rte,  because 
he  ceased ;  etc. 

When  gu  is  used  with  the  infinitive  (see  "Infinitive",  "Use 
of  Moods  ")  it  is  inserted  between  the  verb  and  the  prefix  ;  as, 

er  kfatjl  mtr,  nm  bier  tlfyr  aufjuljflren,  he  commanded  me  to 

cease  at  four  o'clock. 

The  question  arises,  then,  which  compound  verbs  are  separa- 
ble, and  which  inseparable  1 

A II  verbs  compounded  with  an  adverb  or  a  preposition,  hamnj 
the  primary  accent  on  tJie  prefix,  are  separable ;  all  other  com- 
pound verbs  are  inseparable.  (For  the  few  exceptions,  see 
"Remarks.") 

It  follows  from  this  rule,  that 

1. — All  verbs  compounded  with  prefixes  which  have  no  meaning 
as  separate  words  are  inseparable;  as,  befi£en,  to  possess,  id)  bcft£e; 
cntQcljcn,  to  escape,  id)  cntgcfjc;  ttcrfteljcn,  to  understand,  id)  Dcrftcfje; 
even  when  such  prefixes  are  placed  before  a  separable  prefix;  as,  bean'* 
trarjcn,  to  motion,  id)  bcantragc ;  unless  the  two  prefixes  form  a  com- 
pound which  has  sense  of  itself ;  as,  bettor'ftefjcn,  to  impend,  c3  ftcljt 
bettor  ;  cntfjc'genfommen,  to  come  to  meet,  id)  fomme  cntcjccjcn. 

On  the  same  principle  the  prefix  ant,  having  no  meaning  of  itself,  is 
inseparable,  although  it  has  the  accent ;  as,  ant'morten,  to  answer,  id) 
anttnorte. 

The  prefix  mifcf  also,  is  rarely  separated  from  the  verb  ;  as,  mijj'rerfletyen,  to  misunder- 
stand, tcfy  mipserflelje,  not  idj  terftcfa  inijj.  The  gc  of  the  participle,  however,  is  some- 
times inserted  after  the  prefix ;  as,  tntp'tonen,  to  be  dissonant,  mipgetcnt. 

2. — All  verbs  compounded  with  an  adverb  or  a  preposition,  having 
the  primary  accent  on  the  verb,  not  the  prefix,  are  inseparable;  as, 


THE   VERB.  83 

fh'fyett,  to  resist,  id)  ttuberftelje ;  iiber^cu'gen,  to  convince,  id^  iibeqeuge ; 
iiberfe'fcen,  to  translate,  id)  iibcrfc^c;  itmge'f)cn,  to  evade,  icf)  nmgelje ; 
but  ii'ber[et3en,  to  cross  over,  id)  fetje  iiber;  um'geljcn,  to  have  intercourse, 
id)  gelje  lim  K.r  because  here  the  prefix  has  the  primary  accent. 

As  to  whether  the  primary  accent  lies  on  the  prefix  or  the  verb, 
must  ba  learned  by  practice  or  from  the  dictionary.  The  ear  of  the 
student  wLl,  however,  soon  become  trained  to  distinguish  an  inseparable 
from  a  separable  verb. 

REMARKS.  1. — Verbs  compounded  with  adjectives  are  also  separable,  when  the  prefix 
only  modifies  the  meaning  of  the  verb,  without  materially  changing  it ;  as,  acfytcn,  to 
esteem,  fyodjadjten,  to  esteem  highly,  id)  adjte  fyod) ;  but,  fagen.  to  say,  tualjrfagcn,  to  tell 
one's  fortune,  id)  roafyrfage/  because  the  compound  tt>at;rfagen  has  a  meaning  quite, 
different  from  the  simple  verb  fagen. 

2. — Some  verbs  compounded  with  nouns  are  also  separable  ;  as,  fcanf  fagen,  to  thank, 
id)  fage  £>anf ;  but  such  nouns  are  better  always  written  separately ;  as,  CDanf  fagcn. 


IRREGULAR  VERBS. 

We  call  irregular  all  verbs  whose  conjugation  differs  from 
that  of  the  regular  verbs,  as  given  in  the  paradigm  of  lobcit, 
page  72. 

The  irregular  forms  of  German  verbs  occur  in  the  past 
indicative,  past  subjunctive,  past  participle,  the  singular  of  the 
present  indicative,  and  the  singular  of  the  imperative.  They 
are  contained  in  the  "  List  of  Irregular  Verbs  ",  to  which  the 
following  remarks  will  furnish  the  necessary  explanation  : 

1. — Most  irregular  verbs  change  tbeir  root-vowel  (or  diph- 
thong) in  the  past  tense,  and  many  also  in  the  past  participle  ; 
they  do  not  take  the  ending  tc  in  tbe  past,  and  add  en  instead 
of  (e)t  in  the  past  participle;  as,  MecjCIt,  bog,  gebogen,  to  bend, 
bent,  bent ;  ritfcn,  fief,  QCrufen,  to  call,  called,  called ;  fittgeit, 

fang,  gefungen,  to  sing,  sang,  sung. 

The  last  example  shows  the  analogy  between  the  irregularities  of  some  German 
verbs  and  the  corresponding  English  verbs. 

In  the  past  indicative,  tbe  first  and  third  persons  singular 


84  THE    VERB. 

do  not  add  any  termination,  the  second  person  singular  and  the 
plural  take  the  same  terminations  as  the  present  indicative. 

In  the  past  subjunctive,  the  root-vowel  takes  the  Umlaut 
(if  capable  of  it),  and  the  terminations  are  those  of  the  present 
subjunctive. 

The  past  participle  takes  or  omits  the  prefix  ge  according  to 
the  rule  given  for  regular  verbs  (page  75). 

PARADIGM. 

iBiegen,  to  bend. 

PAST  INDICATIVE.  PAST  SUBJUNCTIVE. 

icf)  bog  I  bent  id)  bbge         (if)  I  bent 

bu  bogft  thou  bentst  bit  bogeft  thou  bent 

cr  bog  he  bent  er  boge  he  bent 

uiir  bojcn  we  bent  tt)ir  bogcn  we  bent 

t[)r  bogt  you  bent  ifyr  bogct  you  bent 

fie  bogcn  they  bent  fte  bogcn  they  bent 
Past  participle,  gcbogcn. 

Most  verbs  with  the  root-vowel  a  (and  Idtlfen,  failfcit,  ftofjcit, 
see  the  List)  take  the  Umlaut  in  the  second  and  third  persons 
of  the  present  indicative;  as,  fallen,  to  fall,  bit  fallft,  CU  fcitlt; 
and  most  verbs  with  the  root-vowel  e  (or  d)  change  it  to  t  or 
1C  in  the  same  persons  and  in  the  second  person  singular  of  the 
imperative ;  as,  brcd)CH,  to  break,  bit  brtdjft,  Ct  bricfjt,  imper.  brief] ; 
befcfjlen,  to  command,  bu  bcfiel)lft,  cr  beficl)lt,  imper.  beficljl. 

Some  verbs  which  are  otherwise  regular  in  the  imperative,  may  drop  the  final  c  ;  a~, 
Irtuf  or  laufe,  from  laitfen,  to  run  ;  fommen,  to  come,  and  lafien,  to  let,  should  always 
drop  the  e  (see  them  in  the  List). 

When  the  past  indicative  ends  ia  ft,  and  the  past  participle  has  the  same  vowel  as  the 
past  indicative,  that  vowel  is  always  short,  and  the  jj  must  be  changed  to  ft  when  a 
termination  is  added  (see  page  18);  as,  beitjen,  to  bite,  tip,  gebifien;  tu  btficft,  subjunctive 
id)  In  fie  :c.  When  e  is  dropped  before  i,  some  use  fc,  others  ff ;  tbr  fctfct,  or  bint.  In  all 
verbs  not  having  the  same  vowel  in  the  past  indicative  and  past  participle,  the  vowel 
before  p  is  long,  and  the  p  remains  unchanged;  as,  m  off  en,  to  measure,  tna£,  geateffCB; 
tu  mafceft,  subjunctive  i<f>  mafce  :c. 

Tlie  short  form  of  s,  g,  is  always  changed  to  f  on  adding  a  termination  ;  as,  lefcn,  to 
read,  Ia§ ;  bu  tafejl,  ic^  laie ;  when  the  e  is  dropped  before  t,  some  use  f  or  f,  others  8; 
as,  if>r  laVt,  laft,  or  la^t. 


THE    VERB.  85 

The  irregularities  of  some  verbs  are  not  confined  to  the  vowel 

of  their  root ;  as,  Ijattett,  to  strike,  fyieb ;  gdjen,  to  go,  ciing, 
gegangen;  etc.  They  are  conjugated  like  btegett. 

Some  verbs  drop  the  terminatipn  et  in  the  third  person  of  the  present  indicative; 
as,  fe$tcn,  to  fight,  er  ficfyt  (for  ft^tet). 

2. — Other  irregular  verbs  undergo  a  change  in  their  root, 
but  they  at  the  same  time  take  the  terminations  tC  in  the  past 
and  t  in  the  past  participle  and  are  conjugated,  as  regards 
their  terminations,  like  regular  verbs;  brhtgen,  to  bring,  bradjte, 

gcbradjt;  miiffen,  to  be  obliged,  muftte,  gentujH;  fcnbcn,  to  send, 

fanbte,  gefanbt;  etc.  In  the  past  subjunctive  they  take  the 
Utttlftilt;  as,  brtidjte,  Utitjstc;  unless  another  form  is  given  in 
the  remarks  at  the  foot  of  the  page;  see,  e.  g.,  fenben,"  sub- 
junctive fenbete  :c. 

Some  verbs  of  this  kind  are  irregular  in  the  singular  of  the 
present  indicative ;  as,  mitffett,  trfj  mufc,  bit  tttltjH,  CV  tttUJjj. 


The  foregoing  general  information  on  the  irregularities  of 
German  verbs  will  be  found  sufficient  to  enable  the  student  to 
use  the  alphabetical  list  and  conjugate  every  irregular  verb  in  the 
language. 

The  irregular  forms  only  are  given;  whatever  does  not  appear 
in  the  list,  is  regular,  and  conjugated  like  1 0  b  C  It .  In  the  past 
tense,  however,  only  the  first  person  singular  of  the  indicative 
will  be  found,  it  being  conjugated  like  bog,  or  if  it  ends  in  te, 
like  (obtC  ;  the  subjunctive  takes  the  UtttlCUtt  and  is  conjugated 
like  boge  or  lobtc,  respectively. 

Only  those  compound  verbs  are  given  whose  simple  verbs  are 
not  used  by  themselves  or  are  not  irregular. 

To  find  the  irregular  forms  of  other  compounds,  the  simple 
verbs  must  be  looked  up;  e.  g.,  to  find  the  conjugation  of  em* 

pfangcn,  sec  fangcu  :c. 


86  THE    VERB. 

NOTE.  Verbs  derived  from  nouns  are  regular ;  as,  Bc^erbercjen  (from  ^crfccroie),  to 
harbor;  fcemttleiben  (from  SKitletb),  to  pity;  fyetratfyen  (from  £>eiratf)),  to  marry;  lira; 
ringcn  (from  dftng),  to  surround;  ratfyfcfylajjen  cr  fceratbfcfclacjen  (from  SRat^cfclag),  to 
deliberate ;  etc.  These  are  not  conjugated  like  bercjen,  letfcn,  rat&en,  TUKjen,  fdrtagen, 
but  like  Icfcen;  e.g.,  fce^erbcrgtc,  fccmttleifcete  jc.  Dictionaries  designate  all  irregular 
verbs,  usually  by  the  abbreviation  irr.;  all  verbs  not  marked  in  this  or  a  similar 
manner  are  regular.  The  student  will  find  that  verbs  like  the  above  are  not  designated 
as  irregular  verbs. 

The  student  should  first  conjugate  a  number  of  irregular  verbs  in  all 
their  moods  and  tenses  and  then  learn  the  irregular  forms  of  all  verbs 
from  the  list,  say  half  a  dozen  verbs  at  a  time,  and  he  will  very  soon 
become  familiar  with  all  irregular  verbs  and  will,  after  a  little  practice, 
find  them  anything  but  difficult.  To  facilitate  the  task  of  the  beginner, 
we  have  marked  with  an  asterisk  (*)  all  verbs  of  frequent  occurrence; 
he  may  study  these  first  and  take  the  others  when  reviewing.  If  110 
teacher  be  available,  the  student  may  write  out  the  full  conjugation  of 
a  few  verbs,  have  them  corrected  by  any  educated  German,  and  commit 
them  to  memory,  to  train  the  ear  to  the  proper  forms. 

NOTE.  Grammarians  generally  classify  German  verbs  as  belonging  to  the  Strong 
(Old)  or  Weak  (New)  Conjugation.  The  weak  conjugation  comprises  all  regular  verbs ; 
the  strong  conjugation  comprises  nearly  all  irregular  verbs  treated  by  us  under  1. — 
Irrejular  they  call  only  the  verbs  treated  by  us  under  2. — ;  also  ojefyen,  ftefcen,  tfyun,  and 
the  auxiliaries  fyaben,  fetn,  trerben.  The  verbs  of  the  strong  conjugation  are  further 
divided  into  several  classes,  according  to  their  change  of  vowel. 

Far  from  disputing  tke  correctness  of  such  classifications,  we  would  only  give  it  as 
our  opinion,  based  upon  our  experience  in  teaching  and  the  assurance  of  many  students, 
that  the  dividing  of  verbs  into  two  conjugations  and  the  further  subdivision  into  classes 
are  most  confusing  to  beginners,  instead  of  facilitating  the  study,  and  that  they  serve  no 
practical  purpose  whatever ;  and  although  we  are  well  aware  that  our  way  of  presenting 
the  German  verbs  may  be  severely  criticized,  we  prefer,  independent  of  custom,  to  do 
our  dut}r  by  those  who  may  use  this  MANUAL  ;  and  therefore,  in  accordance  with  the 
promise  given  in  the  preface,  we  present  the  verbs  in  a  manner  "  familiar  to  the  American 
student";  he  is  accustomed  to  distinguish  between  regular  and  irregular  verbs,  and 
to  study  the  latter  from  an  alphabetical  list ;  they  might  be  divided  into  classes,  accord- 
ing to  the  change  of  vowel,  termination,  etc.,  as  the  German  verbs.  All  we  ask  is  a 
fair  trial ;  study  (or  teach)  the  list  according  to  our  instructions,  and  you  will  be  grati- 
fied by  the  result,  as  compared  with  that  obtained  in  following  other  methods. 


THE   VERB. 


87 


LIST  OF  IRREGULAR  VERBS. 

ARRANGED    IN    ALPHABETICAL    ORDER. 

The  asterisk  (*)  is  used  to  mark  verbs  of  frequent  occurrence ;  the 
beginner  should  study  these  first,  and  take  the  others  when  reviewing. 


PRESENT  INFINITIVE. 

PAST. 

PAST  PART. 

PRES.    IXD. 

IMPER. 

*bacf  en,1)  to  bake 

but 

gebarfen 

bu  bcicfft 

er  bcicf  t 

befeljlen,2)  to  command 

befal)!  ' 

befoljten 

bu  befterilft 

befie^I 

er  befiel)It 

bcfleijjen  (fid)),  to  ap- 

beflifi 

befttffen 

ply  (one's  self) 

*bcgtnncn,3)  to  begin 

bcgann 

begomten 

*bci(3en,  to  bite 

big 

gebiffen 

berg  en,  to  hide,  save 

barg 

geborgen 

bu  birgft 

btrg 

er  btrgt 

berften,4)  to  burst 

barft 

geborften 

er  btrfl 

btrft 

bett)egen,5)  to  induce 

beroog 

bctDogctt 

bi  eg  en,  to  bend 

bog 

gebogen 

bteten,6)  to  offer 

bot 

gebotcn 

*b;nbcn,  to  bind 

banb 

gcbunben 

*btttcn,  to  request 

bat 

gcbeten 

blafcn,  to  blow 

bites 

geMafcn 

bu  blafeft 

er  bta'f't 

*blctbcn,  to  remain 

bttcb 

gebltcben 

*bfet(f)cn,7)tofade 

bUrf) 

.•jebltc!)cn 

1)  When  transitive,  fcadcn  is  regular ;  as,  er  fcacft,  fcacfte  fca§  23rcb/  he  bakes,  baked 
the  bread ;  but,  fca§  23rob  6dcEt>  but/  the  bread  bakes,  baked.     The  past  participle  is 
always  irregular,  gefcacfen. 

2)  Past  subjunctive,  fcefoljte  or  tefdbte. 

3)  Past  subjunctive,  fcecjonne  or  begdnne. 

4)  The  pres.  ind.  and  imper.    are  also  formed  regularly.     The  past  fcorfi,   subj. 
Ijorftc,  is  also  used. 

5)  When  it  means  to  move  (from  one  place  to  another)  or  to  affect,  it  is  regular. 

6)  The  old  forms  tu  fccutft,  er  fceut,  imper.  &eut,  are  found  in  poetry. 

7)  Generally  used  as  a  compound ;  as,  crbleicfyen,  tterfcletdjen,  to  grow  pale,  etc. ;  the 
transitive  fcleidjen,  to  bleach,  is  regular. 


THE   VERB. 


PRESENT   INFINITIVE. 

PAST. 

PAST   PART. 

PRES.    IND. 

IMPER. 

bratcn,1)  to  roast 

brtct 

3cbratcn 

Dn  brdtft 

er  brat 

*  bred)  en,  to  break 

brad) 

3ebrod)en 

Dn  bridjft 

brid) 

cr  bridjt 

*brenncn,2)  to  burn 

brannte 

3ebrannt 

*  bring  en,  to  bring 

bradjte 

3ebrad)t 

*bcnfcn,  to  think 

badjte 

gebadjt 

bingen,3)  to  hire 

bung 

gebungcn 

brefdjen,4)  to  thresh 

brofd) 

gebrojdjcn 

bu  brt[ct)eft 

brifc^ 

er  brtfd)t 

bringcn,  to  urge 

brang 

gebrungcn 

*0iirfcn,  to  be  allowed 

burfte 

geburft 

id^  barf 

[wanting] 

bu  barfft 

er  barf 

empfeljtcn,5)  to  recom- 

cmpfafjl 

empfoljlen 

bn  empfie^lft 

empfteljl 

mend 

er  cmpfUl)lt 

erlofd)cn,6)  to    be   ex- 

crlojd) 

erlofc^en 

Du  erltfd)cft 

erltfd) 

tinguished 

cr  crlifdjt 

e,rid)rcicn,7)  to  be 

erfdjraf 

crfc^ro.tcn 

bu  erjd)rtcfft 

crfdjrtcf 

frightened 

cr  crfd)rtcft 

*efen,  to  eat 

a6 

gcgeffcn 

bn  iff  eft 

16 

ertfet 

*fal)rcn,8)todrive 

fnljr 

gcfaljren 

bu  fafjrft 

er  ftifjrt 

/fallen,  to  fall 

Pel 

gefallcn 

Du  fa'llft 

cr  fallt 

1)  When  transitive,  it  inaj-  be  conjugated  regularly,  but  the  past  participle  is 
always  gefcraten.    (See  the  remarks  to  fcacfen.) 

2)  Past  subjunctive,  brcnntc  or  brcnnete. 

3)  The  regular  past  Hncjtc  is  also  used. 

4)  The  past  brafdj,  subj.  brdfdjc,  is  also  used.    The  whole  verb  is  found  conjugated 
regularly,  except  the  past  participle,  which  is  always  gc^rofdjen. 

5)  Past  subjunctive,  cmpfaWe  or  cmpfcMc. 

6)  The  regoilar  forms  of  the  pres.  ind.,  crlcfcfrcfl,  crlef*t,  and  imper.  erlcfdjc,  are  also 
used.    The  simple  verb  I6fd>en,  to  extinguish  (transitive),  is  regular. 

7)  When  transitive,  meaning-  to  frighten,  it  is  regular ;  thus  also  the  simple  verb 
fdjrecfen,  to  frighten. 

8)  aSiUfafyren,  to  gratify,  is  regular;  all  the  other  compounds  of  fasten  are  irregular. 


THE    VERB. 


89 


PRESENT  INFINITIVE. 

PAST. 

PAST   PART. 

PRES.    IXD. 

IMPEB. 

falten,i)  to  fold 

gefalten 

*rangen,  to  catch 

ftng 

gefangen 

bu  ffingfl 

cr  fangt 

f  ed)tcu,2)  to  fight,  fence 

fodjt 

gefoi^tcn 

bu  fid)tfl 

Wt 

er  ftdjt 

*fmbeu,  to  find 

fanb 

gefunbcn 

f  ted)  ten,3)  to  braid 

flodfjt 

geflodjten 

bu  f(idftt(l 

fftd)t 

er  flidftt 

*fltcgen,4)  to  fly 

fag 

geftogen 

*flie()en,5)  to  flee 

M 

geftoljcn 

*f(tc&cn,6)  to  flow 

M 

gcftoffcn 

*freffcn,  to  eat,  devour 

frag 

gefrcffen 

bu  friffeft 

fng 

er  friftt 

frteren,  to  freeze 

fror 

gcfrorcn 

gafjren,f)to  ferment 

3°f)r 

jegoljren 

gcbjircn,8)      to     bring 

gebar 

geboren 

bu  gebtcrft 

gcbier 

forth 

er  gebicrt 

*gcb:n,9)  to  give 

3ab 

vjcgcben 

bu  gicbrt 

(jirt 

cr  gicbt 

gebeifjeu,  to  prosper 

gebiel) 

jcbtcljen 

*gcf)en,  to  go 

3^8 

gcgan^cii 

geIm.qeH,!°)to  succeed 

3daug 

3ehmgcn 

gslten,!!)  to  be  worth 

Raft 

gegolten 

DU  giltft 

gilt 

er  gttt 

*gcucfcu,  to  recover 

]enae 

3cncfcn 

1)  The  regular  participle  gcfaltct  is  also  used. 

2)  In  the  pres.  ind.  the  regular  forms  bu  fcdjteft,  cr  fedjtet,  are  also  used. 

3)  In  the  pres.  ind.  the  regn'ar  forms  bu  Wteft,  er  fledjtet,  are  also  used. 

4)  The  old  forms  bu  flcrujft,  cr  fleugt,  imper.  fteug,  are  found  in  poetry. 

5)  The  old  forms  bu  fleucfyft,  er  fteudjt  imper.  fleud),  are  found  in  poetry. 

6)  The  old  forms  bu  fleujjeft,  cr  fteujjt,  imper.  fleufe,  are  found  in  poetry. 

7)  The  regular  past  gd^rtc  is  also  used. 

8)  The  regnlar  forms  $e&drft,  gefcdrt,  imper.  gefedre,  are  also  used. 

9)  Pres.  ind.  and  imp.  often  written  without  c,  gibft,  gtbt,  gifo. 

10)  Usually  impersonal ;  e3  getingt  mir,  I  succeed,    ©clungcn  as  an  adjective  has  the 
meaning  of  good,  well  done,  etc. 

11)  Past  subjunctive,  gdtte  or  gofte. 


90 


THE    VERB. 


PRESENT   INFINITIVE. 

PAST. 

PAST   PART. 

PRES.  IND. 

IMPER. 

*gemeJ3cii,1)to  enjoy 

genog 

gcnoffen 

*gefd)cf)en,  to  happen 

y\$rf) 

gefcljefjen 

c§  gcfd^icljt 

*gcnrinnen,2)  to  win 

^etnann 

gewonncn 

*gieJ3en,3)  to  pour 

906 

gegoffcn 

gletd)en,  to  resemble 

gltci) 

geglicljen 

glcitcn,4)  to  glide 

glttt 

geglitten 

glimmcn,5)to  glimmer 

glomm 

geglommcn 

*graben,  to  dig 

grub 

gcgraben 

bit  grcibfi 

er  grcibt 

* 

*gretfen,  to  grasp 

griff 

gegriffcn 

Ijaben,6)  to  have  ;  see 

gcljaltcn 

page  65. 

*l)altcn,  to  hold 

fn'elt 

gcljattcn 

bu  pltft 

er  Ijalt 

Ijanrjen,?)  to  hang 

lung 

geljangcn 

bit  Ijdngft 

er  Ijangt 

fyaucn,8)  to  strike 

(n'eb 

gcljaucn 

*()ebcn,  to  lift 

f)ob 

gcl)oben 

*[)CtJ3en,  to  call,  bid 

f)tcj3 

gcljeifjcn 

*I)clfen,9)tohelp 

Iialf 

gcljolfcn 

Du  Fjilfft 

;,iif 

er  l)tlft 

let  fen,10)  to  chide 

tiff 

tjctiffcn 

*fenncn,11)  to  know 

fannte 

]cfannt 

ttteben,  to  cleave 

ttob 

getlobcn 

1)  The  old  forms  tu  gencu^efl,  cr  gcncu^t,  impsr.  gencu^,  are  found  in  poetry. 

2)  Past  subjunctive,  gcironnc  or  gerrannc. 

3)  Tlie  old  forms  bu  v3eufjcjlt/  cr  gcu^t,  imp.  geufj,  are  found  in  poetry. 

4)  93c{jlciten,  to  accompany,  is  not  a  compound  of  gleiten  and  is  regular. 

5)  Also  used  as  a  regular  verb. 

G)  ^anbfyaOen,  to  handle,  administer,  is  regular.   (From  ^anbfyabe,  see  top  of  page  86.) 

7)  §angcn  is  an  intransitive  verb,  meaning  to  hanj,  i.  c.,  to  be  suspended  ;  the  tran- 
sitive Ijancjcn/  to  hang,  to  suspend,  is  regular,  Bangle,  gef)angt. 

S)  §aucn,  in  the  sense  of  to  hew,  forms  its  past  regularly,  fyaute;  thus  also  fce^aucn, 
to  trim  by  hewing,  jcrfiauen,  to  cut  asunder,  beTviutc,  $cvfcaiite. 

9)  Past  subjunctive,  f)dlfe  or  I)ulfc. 

10)  Found  also  as  a  regular  verb. 

11)  Past  subjunctive,  tennte  or  fenncte. 


THE   VERB. 


91 


PRESENT  INFINITIVE. 

PAST. 

PASl   PART. 

PRES.    IND. 

IMPER. 

flirnnten,1)  to  climb 

flomm 

gcflommcn 

tfiitgen,  to  sound 

Hang 

geftun^cn 

tnetfcrt,2)to  pinch 

miff 

gefntffen 

tneipen,3)to  pinch 

fmp|) 

gehtippcn 

*fommcn,4)to  come 

*am 

gefommen 

?omm 

*fbunen,  to  be  able 

fonnte 

gefonut 

id)  tatm 

[wanting] 

bit  fannft 

er  faun 

frtedjen,5)  to  creep 

trod) 

gc!rod)en 

fiiren,  to  choose 

for 

geforen 

fdben,c)  to  load 

tub 

gelaben 

*laffen,7)  to  let 

ttefi 

gelaffen 

bit  laffeft 

lag 

er  idfit 

*iaufcn,  to  run 

lief 

gelaufen 

bit  laufft 

er  laitft 

Ietbcn,8)to  suffer 

Ittt 

gcltttcn 

leifjcn,   to  lend  or  to 

lief) 

gelietjen 

borrow 

*lefcn,  to  read 

las 

gelejen 

bit  Itefefi 

Iic6 

er  Itef't 

*Uegctt,  to  lie  (recline) 

lag 

gclcgen 

Ibfdjctt,  to  extinguish, 

see  crlbfdjcn 

liigcn,9)  to  lie  (tell  a 

tog 

gelogen 

falsehood) 

mat)  ten,  to  grind  (in  a 

gcmaljlcu 

mill) 

1)  Sometimes  conjugated  as  a  regular  verb. 

2)  Sometimes  conjugated  as  a  regular  verb. 

3)  Now  generally  conjugated  as  a  regular  verb. 

4)  The  forms  fcu  femmft,  cr  fommt,  are  also  used. 

5)  The  old  forms  bu  Ireucljfl,  er  freucfyt,  imper.  tveud),  are  found  in  poetry. 

6)  In  the  pres.  ind.  the  irregular  forms  fcu  labft,  cr  lafct,  and  in  the  past  the  regular 
forms  id)  labetc  K.t  are  also  found. 

7)  The  compound  wercmlaffen,  to  cause,  is  regular. 

8)  The  compound  vcrleiben,  to  render  disagreeable,  is  regular. 

9)  The  old  forms  bu  leugft,  cr  leiK3t,  imper.  leucj,  are  found  in  poetry. 


92 


THE    VERB. 


'  T    E* 

A  T   PA      . 

1 

IMx    ?v. 

mcibcn,  to  shun,  avoid 

mteb 

]emtebcn 

niclicn/Oto  milk 

molt 

gcmolten 

meffen,  to  measure 

mafe 

gemeffcn 

bu  miff  eft 

mt(3 

er  intjst 

mtfjltngen,  to  fail 

miglang 

mijilungen 

*mogen,  to  like,  to  be 

modjte 

gemodjt 

tc^  mag 

[wanting] 

allowed 

Du  magft 

er  mag 

*muffen,  to  be  obliged 

mugte 

gemujst 

id)  mug 

[wanting] 

bu  mntlt 

cr  muJ3 

*nel)men,  to  take 

naljm 

genommen 

bu  nimmft 

ntrnm 

cr  nimmt 

*nenncn,2)  to  name 

nannte 

gcnannt 

pfcifcn,  to  whistle 

Pfiff 

gepfiffcn 

pflcgcn,3)to  entertain 

Pft°3 

gcpflcgcn 

pretfcn,  to  praise 

pries 

gepriefen 

quelicn,4)  to  spring 

quotl 

gequoUcn 

Du  qutllft 

quill 

[forth 

cr  quiUt 

riid)cn,5)  to  avenge 

rod) 

gerod)cn 

ratfjcn,  to  advise 

rtctl) 

geratfjcn 

bu  ratf)ft 

er  rtitf) 

reibcn,  to  rub 

rtcb 

gericbcn 

*rci§cn,  to  tear 

rig 

gertffen 

*rciten,6)  to  ride 

rttt 

gerttten 

*rcnncn,")to  run,  race 

rannte 

gerannt 

1)  Also  regular,  mclfte,  cjemelft.   The  irregular  forms  bu  miUji,  er  miltt,  imper.  mitt, 
are  found  sometimes,  but  are  not  recommended. 

2)  Past  subjunctive  ncnnte  or  ncnnctc. 

3)  Irregular  only  when  meaning  to  entertain  (e.  g.,  friendship),  to  take  (counsel), 
etc.    In  the  sense  of  to  nurse,  to  be  wont,  etc.  it  is  regular. 

4)  Regular  when  transitive,  meaning  to  soak  (e.  </.,  pease). 

5)  Now  usually  regular,  rdcfyte,  v3erad)t.    The  irregular  forms  are  met  with  in  former 
writers. 

C)  23erctten,  to  prepare,  is  derived  from  fccrcit,  ready,  and  is  regular,  fccrcitere,  bercitet. 
^Bcrciten,  to  break  a  horse,  etc.,  is  conjugated  like  reiten. 
7)  Past  subjunctive  rcnntc  or  rennete. 


THE    VERB. 


93 


PRESENT  INFINITIVE. 

PAST. 

PAST  PART. 

PRES.   IXD. 

IMPER. 

*ried)cu,  to  smell 

rod) 

gerodjen 

*ringeu,  to  wrestle 

rang 

gerungen 

riuueu,1)  to  run,  flow 

rann 

geronnen 

*ritfcn,  to  call 

rief 

gerufcn 

falgcn,2)  to  salt 

gefatacn 

*icwfcn,  to  drink   (of 

fofl 

gefoffen 

bu  faufft 

animals) 

er  fauft 

fallen,  to  suck 

fog 

gefogeu 

fdjaffeu,3)  to  create 

Mmf 

gefdjaffen 

fdjalieu,4)  to  sound 

fd)oU 

gejdjollen 

fdjeibeu,  to  separate 

jdjteb 

gcfdjicbcn 

*fd)ciueu,  to  shine, 

|d)teu 

gefdjtencn 

*jd)dteu,5)  to  scold 

fdjalt 

gefdjoltcn 

bu  fdjiUft 

Wilt 

cr  fdjtlt 

fdjeren/5)  to  shear 

fdjor 

gcfdjoren 

*jd)teben,  to  shove 

jd)ob 

gcfdjobcn 

*id)teften,  to  shoot 

W)°8 

gefdjoffcn 

fd)tnbeu,  to  flay 

fdjuub 

gcfc^unben 

*fd)lafen,  to  sleep 

fdjHcf 

ge(d)Iafcn 

bit  fdblfiffl 

cr  fdjlaft 

*jd)lageu,7)  to  beat 

fdjlug 

gefdjlajen 

bu  jdjldgft 

er  fd)Iagt 

fd)tcid)cn,  to  sneak 

idjltd) 

gefd)Ud)cn 

fd)Ietfen,8)  to  grind 

VWI 

3cfd)Uffcn 

fdjlctften,  to  slit 

ttftfi 

•]cfd)Itffcn 

1)  Past  subjunctive  tonne  or  rdnne. 

2)  The  regular  participle  gcjaljt  is  also  used. 

3)  Irregular  only  when  meaning  to  create;   otherwise  regular;    as,  Derfc&affen,  to 
procure,  provide,  mfdjaffte,  tterfdjafft,  etc. 

4)  The  regular  forms  fcfcaflte,  gefd)attt,  are  also  found. 

5)  Past  subjunctive  fcfycilte  or  fcfcolte. 

6)  The  irregular  forms  bu  fdjierft,  er  fd)tert  are  used  sometimes,  but  the  regular  forms 
bu  fcfyereft,  cr  fcfyert,  are  preferable. 

7)  The  compounds  ratfyfcfylc^en  and  6eratl)fdjtagen,  to  consult,  deliberate,  are  regular. 
(See  Note,  top  of  page  86). 

8)  Irregular  only,  when  meaning  to  grind  (sharpen),  otherwise  regular;   as,  bcc 
gcinb  fdjleifte  bte  ^eftung,  the  enemy  razed  the  fortress. 


THE    VERB. 


PRESENT   INFINITIVE. 

PAST. 

PAST  PART.              PRES.  IND. 

IMPER. 

*fd)ltctj:n,1)to  shut 

fofog 

gefdjloffen 

fd)(tngen,  to  sling 

,~d)(ang 

gefdjlungen 

fdjmeigen,  to  fling 

[d)mtjj 

gejdjmiffen 

fd)inel3cn,2)tomelt 

fdjmolg 

gcfdjmol^cn 

bii  frfimtlgcfl 

fdjmitg 

er  fc^mt^t 

fdjncmbcn,  to  snort 

fdjnoj 

ge)'d)nobcn 

*fd)neibcn,  to  cut 

fdjnttt 

geidjnttten 

fd)raubcn,3)to  screw 

jd)rob 

3e(d)roben 

jd)recfcn,  see  crjdjre^en 

*jd)rciben,  to  write 

jdjrteb 

gejd^rteben 

*fd)retcn,  to  cry 

jd)rie 

gefc^ricen 

fdjrettcn,  to  stride 

[djrttt 

ge|"d)rttten 

fdjrotcn,4)   to     bruise, 

3efd^roten 

fd)n)drcn,  to  fester 

I'd)  m  or 

gefdjttioren 

*id)uicigcn,  to  be  silent 

jdjmtcg 

gej^rotegen 

jdjroeUen,5)  to  swell 

jdjuooll 

gefc^tDolIcn 

bu  ftfittjiUfl 

jdjmitt 

[men 

er  fc^njiUt 

*fd)unmmen,6)  to  swim 

|d)tt)amm 

gcfd)trom= 

[ben 

{dirjinben,  to   shrink, 

•djtDCin') 

gefdjnmn* 

vanish 

[gen 

*[d)tt)i!igcn,  to  swing 

i  ijroong 

fd)n)orcn,~)to  swear 

f.1)tt)or 

3ejd)ttioren 

*(cl)cn,  to  see 

jal) 

gefc^cn 

DU  ftefjft 
.r  1tef)t 

fte^ 

fcnben,8)  to  send 

fanbtc 

gefanbt 

fieben,9)  to  boil 

[ott 

3efotten 

1)  The  old  forms  bu  f*:eu^cft,  cr  fcfylcujjt,  imper.  f^Icup,  are  found  in  poetry. 

2)  Regular,  when  transitive  ;  as,  cr  jinncljte  ba6  @olb. 

3)  The  regular  forms  f  .^rau^tc,  cjcf  J»rauOt,  are  now  mostly  used. 

4)  The  regular  participle  v3cf;f»rotct  is  also  used. 

5)  When  transitive,  it  is  regular ;  as,  ber  2Sinb  f-fcrocflt,  fdjroeUte  ba3  Scv3d,  the  wind 
swells,  swelled  the  sail. 

C)  Past  subjunctive  fcfrtcemme  or  fdjiucimme. 

7)  The  past  fdjrour  is  alsj  used.    Past  subjunctive  fdjroure  or  f(^tcorc. 

8)  The  regular  forms  fenbete,  ^efenbet,  are  also  used.    The  past  subjunctive  is  always 
fenbete. 

9)  Also  found  regular,  fiebetc,  gefiebet. 


THE    VERB. 


95 


PRESENT  INFINITIVE. 

PAST. 

PAST  PART. 

PRES.    HID. 

IMPER. 

*[mgcn,  to  sing 

fang 

qefuncjen 

*finten,  to  sink 

fan! 

gejiinfcn 

lumen,1)  to  niuse 

faun 

gcfonncn 

*ftt3en,  to  sit 

W 

gefeffen 

* 

*folleu,2)  to  be  obliged 

tcfjfott 

(bu  foUft) 

erfoll 

fpaften,3)  to  split 

cjcfpaltcn 

focicu,  to  spit 

fote 

gefotccn 

fotnncu,4)to  spin 

foann 

gefoonncn 

foleigeu,  to  split 

\m 

gcfoliffcn 

*fored)eu,  to  speak 

forad) 

gcforod)en 

bit  fortd)ft 

fond) 

er  foridjt 

fortcJ3en,5)to  sprout 

forog 

gcfproffcn 

*foriugeu,  to  spring 

forcing 

geforungcn 

*fted)cu,  to  sting 

ftadft 

gcftodjcn 

bit  fttdjft 

fttd) 

cr  fttd)t 

ftecten/Oto  stick 

m~~ 

—  ^-  . 

*jhl)en,7)  to  stand 

ftanb 

geftanben 

*ftel)Ien,s)  to  steal 

fta()I 

gcftoljlcn 

bu  fttcl)lft 

fttcljl 

cr  ftieljtt 

*ftctgeu,  to  rise,  mount 

[Keg 

gcfticgcu 

*fterbcu,9)to  die 

ftarb 

geftorben 

bu  fttrbft 

ftirb 

er  fttrbt 

fticben,  to  disperse 

ftob 

gcftoben 

*ftoJ3eit,  to  push 

fttefi 

gcftogcn 

bu  fto^efl 

cr  ftofit 

ftretdjen,  to  stroke 

ftrid^ 

gcftrtd)en 

1)  Past  subjunctive  jonne  or  fanne. 

2)  Irregular  only  in  the  first  and  third  persons  singular  of  the  present  indicative. 

3)  The  regular  participle  cjefpaltct  is  also  used. 

4)  Past  subjunctive  fponne  or  f panne. 

5)  The  old  forms  bu  fpreufteft,  ct  fprcufjt,  imperative  fpreu^,  are  found  in  poetry. 
C)  Usually  regular,  fterf te ;  always  regular,  when  transitive. 

7)  Past  subjunctive  ftdnbe  or  ftiinfce. 

8)  Past  subjunctive  ftd^te  or  pfyle. 

9)  Past  subjunctive  fturfce  or  ftdrfce. 


96 


THE    VERB. 


PRESENT  INFINITIVE. 

PAST. 

PAST   PART. 

PRES.    IXD. 

IMPER. 

*ftreitcn,  to  quarrel 

ftritt 

geftritteu 

*tl)iin,1)  to  do 

tfat 

getljan 

*tragcu,  to  carry,  wear 

trug 

gctragcn 

bit  trcigft 

er  tragt 

*treffen,  to  hit 

traf 

getroffeu 

bu  triffft 

triff 

er  trifft 

*treibeu,  to  drive 

trtcb 

getrtcbeu 

*treteu,  to  tread 

trat 

g^tretcn 

bu  trittft 

trttt 

er  trttt 

trtefcu,2)  to  drip 

troff 

getroffen 

*trin?eu,  to  drink 

tranf 

getrunfeu 

triirjeu,  to  deceive 

trog 

getrogen 

fcerberbcu,3)  to  perish 

ucrbarb 

oerborbeu 

bu  ccrbtrbft 

oerbirb 

er  tterbtrbt 

kerbricgcn,4)  to  grieve 

ucrbrofi 

ocrbroffcti 

*uerge[fcu,  to  forget 

uergafj 

uergeffcu 

bu  ucrgiffcft 

ocrgi6 

cr  uergiftt 

*ucrttcrcn,  to  lose 

ucrlor 

ucrlorcu 

*ttiac[)|"eu,  to  grow 

ID  lid)  6 

getnadjfcn 

bu  tt»dd)feft 

er  n)iid)ft 

ttageu,5)  to  weigh 

tDog 

gctt)ogen 

*ttmf(i)en,  to  wash 

mufd) 

getnafcijcn 

bu  VDJifrfieft 

er  tncifd)t         j 

1)  £l)un  (from  the  old  t^ucn)  drops  the  e  before  consonant  ending's  in  the  present 
indicative  (Icfy  time,  t>u  tt)uft/  er  tf>ut,  n?tr  t^un  :c.),  and  retains  it  in  the  subjunctive  (bu 
tfyucft,  rcir  t^ucn  jc.).     Imperative  t^uc  (bu) ;   in  the  plural  the  e  may  be  dropped  or 
retained  ;  as,  tfyu(e)t  (ityr),  t&u^e)n  (Sie). 

2)  The  old  forms  tu  trcafft,  cr  tvcuft,  imperative  treuf,  are  found  in  poetry. 

3)  Past  subjunctive  fcerbcirfce  or  terburfce.     When  transitive,  meaning  to  spoil,  to 
destroy,  it  is  regular,  tterterbre,  t>crbcrtt. 

4)  The  old  forms  e-3  t^erbreupt,  imperative  terbrcu^  are  found  in  poetry. 

5)  SSagen  i^  transitive,  meaning  to  loeiyh  (ascertain  the  iceijht  of)  something, 
and  is  sometimes  conjugated  regularly,  roc^te,  vjewdjjt;   the  compound  crrrdcjen,  to 
consider,  is  always  irregular,  erroocj,  ernjogen.     2Biev3eti,  to  weigh,  is  intransitive ;  as, 
btefeS  Stiicf  Gifen  wie^t  ein  $funb,  this  piece  of  iron  weighs  a  pound ;    it  is  always 
irregular,  rcoij,  gercocjen.    The  transitive  verb  toiecjen,  to  rock,  is  regular ;  as,  cr  unc<jre 
ba3  ^linb,  he  rocked  the  child. 


THE    VERB. 


97 


PRESENT  INFINITIVE. 

PAST. 

PAST  PART. 

PRES.    IND. 

IMPER. 

ttebcn,1)  to  weave 

ttob 

gctt)obcn 

ttetrfjcn,2)  to  give  way 

raid) 

cjctxitd)en 

toetjen,  to  show 

ones 

getDtefen 

tneubcn,3)  to  turn 

ttjanbte 

gcaianbt 

ftetbcu,4)  to  sue  for 

marb 

getnorben 

bit  tntrbft 

ttitrb 

er  inirbt 

*lt)crfen,5)  to  throw 

tx>arf 

gctt>orfcn 

bu  ttnrfft 

tt)trf 

cr  vnirft 

ft>tcgcu,c)  to  weigh 

rcog 

geroogcn 

unnbeu,  to  wind 

ttwub 

geoiunbcn 

*tt)tffeu,  to  know 

mufjte 

gettmgt 

icf)  toet(3 

bu  tt)eigt 

er  ttietg 

*tt)oUen,7)  to  will 

id)  ttriU 

[wanting] 

bu  ttiitlft 

erttJtU 

getfjen,  to  accuse  of 

ifd) 

gqieljen 

*gtel)en,8)  to  draw 

m 

gejogen 

*$tt)higen,  to  compel 

jtuang 

gegtiDungcn 

1)  Sometimes  regular,  tuefctc,  c 

2)  The  transitive  trci^en,  meaning  to  soften,  is  regular,  weidjte,  ( 

3)  The  regular  forms  roenbete,  geroenbet,  are  also  found ;  the  past  subjunctive  is 
always  roenbcte. 

4)  Past  subjunctive  nmrfce  or  tcdrfce. 

5)  Past  subjunctive  ttwrfe  (rarely  wdrfe). 

6)  See  the  remarks  to  rcdgcn. 

7)  Irregular  only  in  the  singular  of  the  present  indicative. 

8)  The  old  forms  bu  jcuc^fl,  er  jeudjt,  imperative  jcudj,  are  found  in  poetry. 


98  THE    VERB. 

REMARKS  ON  THE  VERB. 

USE    OF    THE    MOODS. 

The  moods  of  the  verb  are  not  always  used  in  German  as  in  English  ; 
the  following  remarks  will  explain  the  principal  differences: 

1. — The  subjunctive  is  the  mood  expressing  uncertainty  or  possibility. 
It  is  therefore  often  used  in  subordinate  sentences  dependent  on  such 
verbs  as  glanben,  to  think,  believe;  ttmnfdjen,  to  wish;  fagcn,  to  say; 
Iprcn,  to  hear,  etc.,  when  what  is  thought,  wished,  said,  heard,  etc.  is 
represented  as  possible,  but  uncertain.  The  German  verb  in  the  sub- 
ordinate sentence  is  generally  in  the  subjunctive  present,  present  per- 
fect, or  future,  even  if  the  verb  of  the  principal  sentence  is  in  the  past 
or  past  perfect;  as,  id)  glaubte,  bog  cr  abgeretft  fet,  I  thought  that 
he  had  departed  (did  he  not  depart?);  iff)  fyorte,  baft  cr  franf  fet, 
I  heard  that  he  was  sick  (is  he,  or  was  he,  not  sick  ?) ;  man  glaubt,  bag 
er  nid)t  meljr  luieberfommcn  ftierbe,  it  is  believed  that  he  will  not  come 
back  again  (but  he  may  come  back  after  all).  If,  in  the  foregoing  sen- 
tences, we  should  use  the  indicative,  their  meaning  would  be  changed, 
and  they  would  express  a  certainty;  as,  id)  glanbte,  baft  cr  ab^ereift 
tear,  he  had  departed,  and  I  believed  it;  id)  fyortc,  bag  cr  franf  tnar,  he 
was  sick,  and  I  was  informed  of  it;  man  glaubt,  baft  er  ntd)t  mefyr  roieber* 
tommen  unrb,  he  will  not  come  back,  and  people  generally  believe  it 
(no  one  doubts  it). 

The  subjunctive  is  thus  used  especially  in  quoting  the  statements  of 
others;  as,  rr  fagte,  bag  e8  ifyn  frene,  bag  er  fyter  genjefen  fet,  bag  cr 
ttncberfommcn  rocrbe  :c. 

The  subjunctive  is  also  used  in  indirect  questions;  as,'  id)  fragte 
if)n,  ob  er  morgen  fommen  rucrbe,  I  asked  him  if  he  would  come  to- 
morrow ;  also  generally  after  bamif ,  in  order  that ;  as,  id)  gab  tljm  ®elb, 
bam  it  cr  fid)  eincn  9?o:f  faitfe,  I  gave  him  money,  that  he  might  buy 
himself  a  coat. 

The  past  subjunctive  is  used  when  the  present  subjunctive  has  the  same  form  as 
the  indicative;  as,  cr  facjte,  bafj  fie  ©elb  fatten  (fte  I)  a  I)  en  is  the  same  in  the  indicative 
and  subjunctive). 

It  is  often  difficult  to  decide  whether  the  indicative  or  subjunctive 
should  be  used,  and  only  the  reading  of  good  authors  will  give  the. 
student  that  "intuitire  perception"  which  is  the  best  guide ;  it  may, 
however,  be  said  for  his  consolation  that  in  many  cases  the  use  of  the 


THE    VERB.  99 

indicative  for  the  subjunctive  is  not  considered  a  grave  error  and  is  one 
often  committed  by  native  Germans  in  speaking  and  writing. 

The  subjunctive  is  often  used  in  expressing  a  wish ;  the  present, 
when  we  hope  for  the  realization  of  the  wish ;  the  past,  when  the  con- 
trary of  what  we  wish  is  actually  the  case  ;  as,  moge  cr  bdlb  lomnien, 
may  he  come  soon ;  id)  tt)iinfd)te,  er  tt)ace  I) lev,  I  wish  he  were  here. 

In  conditional  clauses  the  past  subjunctive  is  used  as  in  English  ;  as, 
tt)cnn  cr  reid)  tt) cite,  if  he  were  rich  (which  he  is  not);  but  the  English 
present  subjunctive  after  if  is  rendered  by  the  indicative ;  as,  if  he  be 
diligent,  tnenn  cr  ftetjjig  tft  (not  fci). 

2.  — As  the  conditional,  present  and  present  perfect,  is  only  another 
form  of  the  subjunctive,  past  and  past  perfect,  respectively  (see  page  64), 
the  latter  may  in  all  cases  be  substituted  for  the  former ;  as,  U)enn  cr 
md)t  frant  rodrc,  ttwrbe  er  l)ter  fcin  or  rod  re  cr  l)ier,  if  he  were  not  sick, 
ho  would  be  here;  but  the  conditional  must  not  be  used  instead  of 
the  subjunctive  in  the  sentence  beginning  with  uiClin  (if),  (the  con- 
ditional clause) ;  in  the  foregoing  example  we  must  not  say  tt)cnn  cr  nid)t 
Irani  fcin  ttiirbe. 

NOTE.  In  English,  will  and  would  are  used  sometimes  to  denote  what  is  or  was 
habitual ;  as,  he  will  (would)  study  for  hours.  When  so  used,  will  or  would  cannot  he 
rendered  by  the  future  or  conditional,  or  by  rcoKcn  (see  "Auxiliaries  of  Mood,"  below) ; 
such  expressions  are  translated  simply  by  the  present  or  past,  or  by  pftecjen,  to  be 
wont,  or  the  like ;  as,  cr  ftufctrt  (ftubtrte)  fiunbenlana ;  cr  pffe{jt  (pflccjtc)  ftunfccnlang  ju 
ftutiren. 

3. — The  English  potential  is  rendered  by  the  German  conditional  or 
subjunctive,  or  by  the 

4. — Auxiliaries  of  Mood  (sometimes  called  "potential  verbs").  They 
are 

bitrfcn,  to  be  allowed  follcn,  to  be  obliged 

lonnen,  to  be  able  ttioEcn,  to  will 

mbgen,  to  be  allowed  foffcn,  to  let 

m  tiff  en,  to  be  obliged 

They  are  generally  used  as  auxiliaries  with  the  infinitive  of  a  prin- 
cipal verb,  and  are  conjugated  in  all  moods  and  tenses  (in  the  imperative 
laffcn  only).  They  generally  correspond  to  one  of  the  English  auxiliaries 
can,  may,  must,  shall,  etc. ,  but  where  these  are  defective,  the  German 
verbs  must  be  rendered  by  expressions  of  a  similar  meaning ;  thus,  the 
present  of  fitttncn,  id)  f ann,  may  be  rendered  by  /  can  ;  but  for  id)  fyabc 


100  THE   VERB. 

gefonnt,  we  must  say,  I  have  been  able,  since  can  has  no  past  participle 
in  English ;  thus,  also,  the  infinitive  fonncn  is  rendered  to  be  able. 

For  the  conjugation  of  these  verbs  see  "  Irregular  Verbs,"  2. — (page 
85)  and  the  List. 

When  used  as  auxiliaries,  they  take  the  form  of  the  infinitive  in  the 
perfect  (present  and  past)  instead  of  that  of  the  past  participle  ;  as,  id) 
I)abc  e3  tfyun  fonnen  (not  gefonnt),  I  have  been  able  to  do  it. 

Observe  the  idiomatic  rendering  of  expressions  like  I  could  have  done 
it,  etc.,  by  id)  [jdtte  c§  tf)nn  fonnen  X.  To  better  understand  this  version, 
we  change  the  English  sentence  to  the  equivalent  one,  /  should  have  been 
able  to  do  it;  we  then  render  the  perfect  of  the  conditional  /  should 
have  been  able  by  the  past  perfect  of  the  German  subjunctive,  id)  Ijattc 
QCiOnnt,  and  on  adding  tf)iin,  to  do,  we  must  change  the  participle 
gefonnt  to  the  infinitive  fonnen;  therefore,  id)  l)dtte  c3  tfum  fonncn. 
Thus,  also,  er  fyJitte  c§  tierfcmfcn  foEen,  he  ought  to  have  sold  it;  fie 
Ijdtten  fptelen  biirfen,  they  might  have  played  (would  have  been  per- 
mitted to  play),  etc. 

REMARKS.  The  proper  use  of  the  auxiliaries  of  mood  must  be  learned  by  practice ; 
the  following-  remarks  may,  however,  furnish  some  assistance  to  the  student : 

1. — £)urfen  corresponds  to  may  or  to  be  allowed;  as,  t-u  tarfft  jcfct  fpielen,  you  may 
play  now ;  trir  titrfcn  fca3  ntdjt  tfyun,  we  are  not  allowed  to  (or  must  not)  do  that. 

2. — fonnen  corresponds  to  the  English  can,  may,  etc.;  as,  id)  fann  fd)ttnmmen, 
I  can  swim ;  e3  fann  fein,  it  may  be.  When  not  accompanied  by  an  infinitive,  it  signifies 
to  know,  understand,  etc. ;  as,  id)  fann  meine  Section,  I  know  my  lesson ;  cr  fann  fccuti'd), 
he  knows  (or  speaks)  German. 

/  (he,  etc.)  could,  when  meaning  I  was  able,  is  translated  by  the  indicative  id)  fonnte, 
when  meaning  I  should  be  able,  by  the  subjunctive  id)  fonnte ;  as,  I  could  not  come, 
because  I  was  sick,  id)  f  onntc  nidjt  fcmmen,  wcil  id)  front  war;  I  could  not  come,  even 
if  I  wanted  to,  id)  f  onntc  nirfit  fommcn,  tr-enn  id)  and)  troflte. 

3. — SKecjcn  often  corresponds  to  may;  in  this  sense  fonncn  and  mccjcn  are  oftei)  used 
indiscriminately  ;  as,  e-3  ma  a,  fetn,  or  e3  fann  fetn,  it  may  be.  It  often  signifies  to  like, 
to  wish  ;  as,  id)  vnaoj  ta§  ntd)t  tfyun,  I  do  not  like  to  do  that ;  in  this  sense  it  may  also  be 
used  without  an  infinitive ;  as,  id)  mag  fctnen  23etn  meljr,  I  do  not  wish  any  more  wine. 

4. — 2ft u H en  closejy  corresponds  to  the  English  must,  to  be  obliged. 

5. — Soil  en  is  translated  by  shall  (to  be  to);  as,  fatt  id)  geljen?  shall  I  go  (am  I  to  go)? 
or  by  should  (ought  to) ;  as,  cr  foflte  fletjjuier  fein,  he  should  (ought  to)  be  more  diligent. 
Should  in  conditional  sentences  is  also  rendered  by  follen,  as,  if  he  should  arrive, 
tocnn  cr  anfommen  fcflt?.  SoUen  is  often  used  in  the  sense  of  it  is  said,  man  fa;jt(the 
French  on  dit) ;  as,  cr  {oft  fefyr  reid)  jcin,  he  is  said  to  be  very  rich;  e§  jolt  nid)t  n?af>r 
fein,  they  say  it  is  not  true. 

6.— 23 o Hen  corresponds  to  the  English  principal  verb  to  ivill ;  it  is  used  to  render 
the  auxiliary  ivill,  whenever  that  may  be  replaced  by  to  want  to,  to  wish  to,  or  similar 


THE    VERB.  101 

words ;  as,  id)  n>ttt  cm6getjcn,  I  will  (want  to,  am  determined  to)  go  out  (different  from 
idj  tnetbe  cw§gel)ett,  I  shall  go  out,  indicating  futurity  simply) ;  cr  unit  Co  nicfyt  tfyuu,  he 
will  not  (does  not  want  to)  do  it  (differen  tfroui  c?  njir|>  e,§  jridtf  tfwn,  ho.will.not  do  it, 
i.  e.,  it  is  probable,  or  certain,  that  he  will  notj  d<}  $). '  SBo^h  sometimes  ^signifies  to 
pretend,  to  assert;  as,  cr  will  iljn  gefetyen  J)a6cn,1ie  p'retends  to  have  seen  him. 

7. — 8af  jcn  corresponds  to  the  English  tv  let,  tff>fn$it,  drt\3'i*, -eta. ;' as,  $*J£9$$&i>$ii<$ 
f  e  in,  let  us  be  merry ;  id)  laffc  ifyn  je£t  rufyeityj'le^njrfc/parriiit  hvii  <wty>r«s3heviV!»iifen 
<Sie  il)n  fommcn,  direct  him  to  come,  or  allow  him  to  come. 

fiaffen  is  also  used  idiomatically  in  the  sense  of  to  have  in  such  expressions  as  id)  laffe 
mir  bie  §aare  jdjneiben,  I  have  my  hair  cut;  er  Icijjt  fid)  ein  neue§  §au§  bauen,  he  is  having 
a  new  house  built. 

Safien  is  sometimes  used  as  a  principal  verb  in  the  sense  of  to  leave  ;  as,  lafj  mil  ba3 
23ud),  leave  me  the  book. 

5. — Of  the  imperative  mood,  only  the  second  person  singular  and  plural 
and  the  third  person  plural,  polite  address  (see  page  53),  are  given  in 
the  paradigms.  The  other  persons  are  taken  from  the  subjunctive  or 
expressed  by  means  of  lajjcn,  to  let ;  as,  er  gefye,  laftt  un$  (jcl)en. 

The  past  participle  is  sometimes  used  for  the  imperative ;  as,  ftitt  geftanben!  stand 
still. 

When  a  command,  wish,  etc.  is  expressed  indirectly,  fottett  is  used ;  as,  cr  facjte  i^m  : 
,/  (Sefyc !  "  he  said  to  him  :  "  Go  "  ;  cr  fagte  if)tn,  cr  fofle  gefyen,  he  told  him  to  go. 

The  pronouns  of  the  second  person  are  generally  omitted;  as,  gcl)c  (for  gcl)e  bu). 
©tc  (polite  address),  being  the  pronoun  of  the  third  person  (only  used  for  the  second) 
must  never  be  omitted. 

6. — The  infinitive  is  often  preceded  by  311  (to),  although  that  word  is 
not  to  be  considered  as  a  part  of  the  infinitive,  but  as  being  required  by 
the  word  on  which  the  infinitive  depends. 

3ll  is  omitted  in  the  following  cases,  in  many  of  which  to  is  also 
omitted  in  English,  or  the  infinitive  is  expressed  by  the  form  in  ing 
(verbal  noun  or  gerund) : 

1)  When  the  infinitive  is  used  as  the  subject  of  a  sentence  ;    as, 
tabclit  tft  leicfyt,  to  blame  is  easy. 

Sometimes,  however,  5  u  is  employed,  especially  when  the  sentence  is  introduced  by 
the  " anticipative "  subject  eS;  as,  c3  gcstcmt  bcm  <2>d;uler,  flcijng  511  fcttt,  it  becomes  the 
scholar  to  be  diligent. 

The  infinitive  may  be  used  as  a  noun  of  the  neuter  gender ;  as,  ba0 
Sefcn  gutcr  33ii(i)cr  tft  niit3Ud),  the  reading  of  good  books  is  useful. 

2)  When  the  infinitive  is  used  with  the  auxiliaries  of  mood,  biirfcn, 
fonncn  :c.  (see  page  99),   and  with  Ijctgen,  to  bid;   nennen,  to   call; 
Ijelfrn,  to  help;  tefyrcn,  to  teach;  lernen,  to  learn;  macfycn,  to  make; 


102  THE    VEHB. 

as,  id)  fyetjje  ifjit  cintreteii,  I  bid  him  come  in ;  bag  ncnne  id)  arbeitcn, 
that  I  call  working,  etc. 

3)  After  gome  v^rbs  (looting  perception  by  the  senses ;  as,  id)  fcljc 
if)tt  fommttt,!  see  hio.  coHiicg;  rd)  I)ore  iljit  fyredjcn,  I  hear  him  speaking ; 
etc.  tn 

4)' IE, ''xTv^in.expres'sums^Uc  vdtu  bleibcn,  to  remain;  (jeljcn,  to  go; 
Ijaben,  to  have;  reiten,  to  ride;  tlnin,  to  do;  etc. ;  as,  id)  bleibe  ftefyen, 
I  remain  standing ;  id)  ijefye  (reitc)  fpa3iereil,  I  am  out  for  a  walk  (ride)  ; 
er  l)dt  Ieid)t  Iad)Cn,  he  is  in  clover  (lit.  he  has  easy  laughing)  ;  fte  tfjilt 
nid)t§  al§  toeinen,  she  does  nothing  but  cry. 

3  U  is  generally  used  with  the  infinitive,  when  it  depends  on  a 
noun  or  adjective,  or  a  verb  not  mentioned  above ;  as,  id)  fjabe  £uft 
bicfeS  §au§  gu  failfcn,  I  have  a  mind  to  buy  this  house ;  biefer  Itmftanb 
ift  Ieid)t  gu  erflaren,  this  circumstance  is  easy  to  explain ;  id)  tt)iinfd)c, 
bid)  311  fcfyen,  I  wish  to  see  you ;  also,  after  the  prepositions  anftatt, 
instead  of,  and  oljne,  without,  and  after  the  adverbs  CjCHiig,  enough,  and 
gu,  too  ;  as,  anftatt  gu  flcfyen,  instead  of  going ;  ol)ne  311  ttartcn,  without 
waiting;  ret-i)  Qenug,  ba3  gu  faufcn,  rich  enough  to  buy  that;  gu  arm, 
ba§  311  faiifcn,  too  poor  to  buy  that. 

The  German  infinitive  active  is  often  used  with  a  passive  meaning- ;  as,  er  ift  5  u 
I ofc en,  he  is  to  be  praised. 

Instead  of  the  English  infinitive  we  must  often  use  a  subordinate 
sentence  in  German ;  as,   I  know  him  to  be  honest,  id)  iDcifj,  bajj  cv 
ift;  they  thought  it  to  be  me,  fie  glaubtcn,  ba(3  id)  c§  fci. 


USE    OF    THE    PARTICIPLES. 

The  present  participle  is  generally  used  as  an  adjective,  joined 
attributively  to  a  noun  ;  as,  bie  liebettbe  Hftiltter,  the  loving  mother.  It 
is  often  accompanied  (and  preceded]  by  an  object  or  adjunct ;  as,  be  in 
bid)  innicj  licbcnbcr  greiinb,  your  friend  who  dearly  loves  you.  It  is 
sometimes  used  as  a  participle ;  as,  fterbcnb  Dergab  er  if)tn,  dying  he 
forgave  him  ;  but  generally  the  English  participle  and  the  gerund  (the 
forms  in  ing)  are,  in  German,  rendered  either  by  a  subordinate  sen- 
tence, by  a  principal  sentence  connected  by  and,  or  by  the  infinitive  ;  as, 
hearing  of  his  being  sick,  I  visited  him,  ba  id)  I)orte,  bag  er  frant  fci, 
bcfudjte  id)  if)ii ;  he  went  away,  weeping  bitterly,  er  ghifl  fort  imb  Voeinte 
luttcrlid).  See  also  examples  under  "infinitive",  (above). 


THE   VERB.  103 

The  present  participle  is  sometimes  preceded  by  ju  and  then  has  a  passive  mean- 
ing- ;  as,  cine  ^u  lofcenbe  STfyat,  a  deed  to  be  praised. 

The  past  participle  is  often  used  as  an  adjective,  joined  attributively 
to  a  noun,  and  may  have  objects  or  adjuncts  depending  upon  (and 
preceding]  it;  as,  niettt  geliebter  greunb,  my  beloved  friend;  ba§  mtr 
gc'tern  tion  meinem  SBruber  anttertraute  @elb,  the  money  confided  to 
me  yesterday  by  my  brother.  The  past  participle  is  often  used  as  an 
adjective  in  the  predicate,  as  in  English.  (See  page  78. )  The  past  par- 
ticiple is  also  often  used  as  a  noun ;  as,  bcr  ©efancjene  (from  fangcn),  the 
prisoner. 

JSIot  only  the  auxiliaries  of  mood  (see  page  100),  but  also  the  verbs 
tycifjcn,  Ijetfen,  tyorcn,  fefycn  (sometimes  also  leljrcn  and  Icrnen),  when 
used  with  the  infinitive  of  another  verb,  take  the  form  of  the  infinitive 
instead  of  that  of  the  past  participle;  as,  er  I)at  mid)  (jcfycn  fyeijjcn  (for 
flcfyciften),  he  has  bidden  me  go;  id)  fyabe  tint  rufcn  fyoren  (for  gcljort), 
I  have  heard  him  call. 

After  fommcn  the  past  participle  is  sometimes  used  for  the  present  participle ;  as, 
etn  2S5glctn  fam  geflogen,  a  little  bird  came  flying. 

USE    OF    THE    TENSES. 

The  present  tense  is  often  used  for  the  English  present  perfect  in 
speaking  of  an  action  or  state  as  having  taken  place  or  existed  in  the 
past,  and  continuing  to  take  place  or  exist  in  the  present ;  the  adverbs 
jdjou  or  nod)  usually  accompany  the  verb ;  as,  i.i)  arbcite  frf)on  cine 
SSodjc  barcm,  I  have  been  working  at  it  ft  week ;  vote  Icmrje  ftnb  <3ie 
f  d)on  I)icr  ?  how  long  have  you  been  here  ?  3d)  bin  nod)  nid)t  lancje  f)ter, 
I  have  not  been  here  long. 

The  present  is  often  used  instead  of  the  past  in  speaking  of  a  per- 
son's nativity  ;  as,  cr  ift  in  2)eutjd)Ianb  QCborcn,  he  was  born  in  Germany. 

The  present  often  stands  for  the  future;  as,  id)  cjelje  IjCittc  inS  £l)cater, 
I  shall  go  to  the  theatre  to-day. 

The  present  perfect  is  often  used  for  the  past,  especially  in  relating 
an  occurrence  of  which  the  speaker  was  not  an  eye-witness  ;  as,  fjcftcrn 
ift  cm  $inb  ertrunlcn,  a  child  was  drowned  yesterday  (as  I  see  from  the 
papers).  In  colloquial  style,  however,  the  present  perfect  is  frequently 
used  for  the  past  by  good  speakers  and  writers  (though  inaccurately), 
without  regard  to  the  speaker's  being  a  witness  of  the  occurrence  or 
not ;  as,  cr  tjat  mid)  cjcficrn  bcjndjt,  he  visited  me  yesterday  ;  id)  bin  am 
3)iontaG  in  ber  0tabt  gctDcjcn,  I  was  in  town  011  Monday. 


104  THE 

The  future  is  often  used  to  express  probability,  supposition,  etc. ;  as, 
cr  ttnrb  in  fctncm  3tnnncr  fetn,  I  think  he  is  in  his  room. 

REMARKS.  1. — When  two  or  more  verbs,  in  one  of  the  compound  tenses,  are  con- 
nected, the  auxiliary  may  be  expressed  but  once,  as  in  English  ;  as,  ify  tyafce  ifyn  gcfcfyen, 
gcfccrt  :c. ;  id)  rcerbe  au§gef)cn  unb  ifyn  fcefudjen. 

§aben  and  fcin,  however,  at  the  end  of  a  subordinate  sentence  (see  "Arrangement 
of  Words,"  3. — )  may  always  be  omitted,  provided  that  no  ambiguity  results  from  the 
omission ;  as,  nad)bem  id)  ifyn  gefel)en  (I)atte),  ging  id)  fort.  Sometimes  the  auxiliary  is 
omitted,  to  avoid  its  repetition;  as,  al3  id)  ifyn  gefetyen  (fyatte),  Ijatte  id)  nid)t3  wetter 
ju  tl)un. 

2.— In  such  expressions  as,  you  have  seen  him,  have  you  not  ?  Yes,  I  have,  or  tho 
like,  the  auxiliary  alone  is  used  in  English,  the  principal  verb  being  understood.  This 
ellipsis  of  the  principal  verb  is  inadmissible  in  German  ;  we  usually  render  have  you 
not,  etc.,  by  nidjt  rcafyr,  "not  true"?  (the  French  n'est-ce  past)',  as,  Sic  Ijafcen  ifyn 
gefcfycn,  ntd)t  rcatyr?  In  the  answer,  the  Germans  cither  say  simply  ja,  yes  (netn,  no), 
sometimes  accompanied  by  an  adverb,  as,  ja  trotyl ;  ja,  gennfc  jc. ;  or  they  repeat  the 
verb,  ja,  id)  tyafce  it;n  gefetyen  (not  j a ,  id)  1) a b e). 


AGREEMENT  OF  THE  VERB  WITH  THE  SUBJECT. 

1. — When  the  subject  is  a  collective  noun  in  the  singular,  the  verb  is 
in  the  singular ;  as,  ba$  35olf  fyat  fid)  gerflrcut,  the  people  have  dispersed  ; 
but  when  a  collective  noun  in  the  singular  is  followed  by  a  plural  noun 
in  the  genitive,  the  verb  is  often  used  in  the  plural ;  as,  cine  (jroge 
Slnsaljl  Solbaten  finb  anflefommcn,  a  large  number  of  soldiers  lias 
arrived. 

2.  — In  Grerman,  as  in  English,  the  verb  is  used  in  the  singular  with 
two  or  more  subjects  connected  by  ami  when  unity  of  idea  is  conveyed; 
as,  §ail3  linb  $of  ift  Dcrfauft,  hearth  and  home  is  sold  ;  but  the  German 
idiom  permits  also,  sometimes,  the  use  of  the  singular  when  plurality  of 
idea  is  conveyed,  especially  when  the  subject  follows  the  verb ;  as,  fca 
ift  bcr  iBdtcr  llttb  bte  flitter,  there  are  father  and  mother ;  even  when 
one  of  the  nouns  is  in  the  plural,  provided  that  it  is  not  placed  next  to 
the  verb;  as,  ba  ift  ber  3>ater,  bte  Gutter  unb  bte  $tnber. 

When  c£,  ba?,  or  btc§,  is  used  as  an  "anticipative"  subject,  the  verb  agrees  with  the 
real  subject  (see  page  57). 

3.  — When  the  subjects  are  of  different  persons,  the  verb  agrees  with 
the  first  person  in  preference  to  the  second,  and  with  the  second  in 
preference  to  the  third,  as  in  English;  as,  id)  unb  bit  finb  ^unbe,  I  and 
you  (you  and  I)  are  friends;  bit  unb  cr  fcib  5rcuu^er  vou  an(l  ne  are 


THE   ADVERB. 


105 


friends.  It  is  customary,  however,  to  use  the  plural  pronoun  of  that 
person  which  has  precedence,  before  the  verb;  as,  id)  itnb  bit,  tnir  ftttb 
grettnbe;  bit  unb  er,  H)r  fetb  greunbe. 


THE    ADVERB. 

ober 


The  following  lists  contain  some  of  the  adverbs  most  fre- 
quently used  ;  viz., 


balb,  soon 
btSfyer,  heretofore 
t>antal8,  at  that  time 
bann, then 
e!)emal$,  formerly 
ettbUd),  finally 
crft,  first,  not  before 
cieftcrn,  yesterday 
(jletd),  immediately 
l)Cittc,  to-day 

ba,  there,  here 
btcSfcitS,  on  this  side 
bort,  there,  yonder 
fort,  forth,  away 
Ijer,  hither 
Ijter,  here 


ADVERBS  OF  TIME. 

tmtner,  always 
jef  jtemat6f  ever 
jet,3t,  now 
lattge,  a  long  time 
morgen,  to-morrow 
neiiltd),  lately 
nie,  never 
nod),  yet 
rtlttt,  now 


oftf  often 
fd)on,  already 
feltcn,  seldom 
fogfcid),  immediately 
fonft,  formerly 
ftet§,  always 
lt>ann,  when 
Ititebcr,  again 
$Utt>ettcn,  sometimes 


ADVERBS  OF  PLACE. 

1) lit,  thither  libcrall,  everywhere 

()tntcnf  behind  untctt,  below 

trgcnbtDO,  somewhere  Dortt,  in  front 
Jcnfett^^ontheotherside  tro,  where 

ntrgcnbS,  nowhere  \t)o{)cr,  whence 

obcn,  above  mof)in,  whither 


ADVERBS  OF  MANNER,  DEGREE,  ETC. 


beinal)c,  almost 
ebcnfo,  just  so,  as 
fa  ft,  almost 
frciltd),  indeed 
gcnug,  enough 
Qcnt,  willingly 
ja,  yes 


taunt,  hardly 

natitrltd),  of  course 

ttetn,  no 

tttd)t,  not 

ttttr,  only 

feljr,  very 

fo,  so,  thus,  as 


ttngefafjr,  about 

Dtc(Ieid)t,  perhaps 

n)te,  how,  as 

n3ol)t,  well 

gtemltd),  tolerably 

$11, too  (too  much, not  also) 

gufamnten,  together 


106  THE    ADVERB. 

Ill  German,  nearly  all  adjectives  may  be  used  as  adverbs 
without  change  of  form;  as,  bie  S^amc  ift  fdjtin,  the  lady  is 
beautiful;  fie  ift  CWdj  fd)01t  gcfkibct,  -she  is  also  beautifully 
dressed. 

A  few  adverbs,  and  all  adjectives  used  adverbially,  whose 
sense  admits  of  comparison,  may  be  compared  like  adjectives. 
The  superlative  is  preceded  by  am  (an  bdlt);  as,  am  fdjonftcn, 
most  beautifully  (of  all),  am  bcften,  best  (of  all). 

The  comparison  of  the  following1  two  adverbs  is  irregular  : 
fcatb,  soon  efjcr,  sooner  am  cfyeftcn,  soonest 

gcrn,  willingly  Itefccr,  more  willingly  am  Itebftcn,  most  willingly 

When,  however,  a  very  high  degree  only  is  to  be  expressed,  without 
the  idea  of  comparison,  the  so-called  absolute  superlative  is  employed, 
i.  e.,  we  either  place  ailfS  (sometimes  gum  or  im)  before  the  superlative, 
or  use  its  simple  form  without  inflection  or  with  the  addition  of  en  3; 
as,  auf§  frcunbltdjftc,  in  a  most  friendly  manner ;  l)od)ft,  extremely ; 
fjcftiUiflft,  most  pleasingly  ("if  you  please") ;  l)od)ftcn$,  at  most. 

REMARKS.  1.— Some  adverbs  rarely  or  never  occur  alone,  but  only  appear  in  com- 
pound words,  especially  as  prefixes  in  compound  separable  verbs  (see  page  80) ;  as, 
afc,  off;  ctn,  in,  into ;  cmpor,  up  ;  nicbcr,  down  ;  etc.  Here  belong  also  Ijcr,  hither,  and 
I;in,  thither,  and  their  numerous  compounds;  as,  ^crctn,  l)erau§,  tyerauf  jc.,  fytnetn, 
fyinauS,  Ijinauf  :c.  §cr  expresses  a  movement  towards  the  speaker,  fyin  a  movement 
from  the  speaker ;  as,  iro  fommeu  Sic  fyer?  where  do  you  come  from?  n?o  gcften  Sic  Inn? 
where  (whither)  are  you  going?  When  inviting  some  one  to  enter  a  room,  we  say 
femmcn  Sie  I) c rein'  (or  simply  fycretnOf  come  in,  if  we  are  in  the  room;  and  gcfycn  Sie 
ty  in  cm',  go  in,  if  we  are  outside. 

2.— The  adverb  gcrn,  willingly,  in  connection  with  an  appropriate  verb,  is  used  to 
render  the  English  to  like,  the  German  verb  stating  what  one  likes  to  do  ;  as,  id)  ejje 
gcrn  Suppe,  I  like  (to  eat)  soup;  cr  trtnft  gern  $affce,  he  likes  (to  drink)  coffee  ;  id)  Icfe 
cjcrn,  I  like  to  read.  To  like  somebody  is  rendered  by  gern  Ijafeen;  as,  fte  fyat  itm  gcrn, 
she  likes  him. 

3.— The  meaning  of  some  adverbs,  such  as  benn,  bod),  ja,  nun,  nur,  fdjon,  woM  jc. 
often  varies  with  the  connection  in  which  they  are  used,  and  frequently  they  cannot  be 
translated  by  one  corresponding  English  word,  at  least  not  by  one  which  would  hold 
good  in  every  instance.  They  are  "  puzzling  little  words  ",  as  many  students  express 
it,  and  it  requires  considerable  acquaintance  with  the  German  idiom  before  they  can 
always  be  correctly  rendered.  Examples — 2Bo  ift  crbcnn?  where  is  he  (/  would  liks 
to  know)?  Gr  ift  bed)  ntd)t  au§gcgangcn,  he  has  not  gone  out  (/  hope);  cr  ift  ja  Irier,  ?''/'//, 
he  is  here;  nun,  n?a§  rcolten  Sic?  well,  what  do  you  wish?  fabren  Sic  nur  fo  fort,  jttat 


THE    PREPOSITION.  107 

keep  on  in  this  way ;  cr  ttnrb  f  djon  fommen,  he  will  come  (never  fear) ;  wo  mag  cr  tool) I 
fctn  ?  where  may  he  be  (/  wonder)  ? 

4. — 9J  o<2)  before  numerals  is  rendered  by  more  or  another  ;  nod)  ctnmal,  once  more  ; 
gift  mtr  nocf)  einen  9lpfel,  give  me  another  (i.  e.  one  more)  apple;  gift  mir  cincn  an  kern 
2tpfcl  would  mean,  give  me  an  apple  differing  from  (or  instead  of)  that  one. 

5.— ,3  u,  too  (in  the  sense  of  more  than  enough)  and  f  o,  so,  as,  when  used  with  an 
article,  are  preceded  by  it ;  as,  ein  ju  grofjeS  £>au3,  too  large  a  house ;  cm  fo  fleiner  Sftann, 
so  small  a  man. 

G. — Now  may  be  rendered  by  je^t  or  nun;  jc£t  refers  to  present  time  only,  while 
nun  is  more  apt  to  be  used  with  reference  to  existing  circumstances ;  as,  n?aS  ift  nun  ju 
tfyun?  what  is  to  be  done  now  (under  these  circumstances)?  3el§t  and  nun  are,  however, 
o.ten  used  indiscriminately. 


THE    PREPOSITION". 

(Die   ^rctyofitton   or    ba$    3?ortnort.) 

English  prepositions  always  govern  the  objective,  i.  e.,  the 
words  depending  on  them  are  in  the  objective  case ;  while  in 
German  some  prepositions  govern  the  genitive,  some  the  dative, 
others  the  accusative,  others  again,  sometimes  the  dative  and 
sometimes  the  accusative. 

The  following  lists  contain  all  prepositions,  classified  accord- 
ing to  the  cases  which  they  govern,  and  the  student  will,  after 
some  practice,  have  but  little  difficulty  in  using  every  preposi- 
tion with  its  proper  case.  As  regards  the  clioice  of  the  proper 
preposition  in  any  given  instance,  we  must  say  that  this  is 
probably  the  most  difficult  part  in  the  study  of  any  language 
(including  the  English,  when  studied  by  a  foreigner),  for  the 
reason  that  the  different  languages  often  use  different  preposi- 
tions to  denote  the  same  relation.  Thus,  e.  g.,  the  English 
preposition  with  is  rendered  in  Grerman  by  lttit;  but  it  does 
not  follow  that  in  German  we  always  use  the  preposition  ttttt, 
when  in  English  we  use  with;  as,  I  go  with  my  father,  id)  gelje 

in  it  metnem  S3ater ;  but,  I  dwell  with  my  father,  id)  ir>ol)ne  fret 

(not  mtt)  mcincm  ^Clter;  thus,  also,  to  is  generally  translated 


108  THE    PREPOSITION. 

by  Jit  (when  not  rendered  simply  by  the  dative) ;  as,  I  go  to 
my  father,  id)  CjeI)C  Jit  HtCtUCm  23atCV ;  but,  I  am  going  to 
London,  id)  gcfye  Had)  bonbon;  on  the  other  hand,  we  often  use 
another  preposition  in  English,  when  in  German  we  use  g  U  * 
as,  JU  i$n$,  on  foot;  Jit  £)dufe,  at  home;  etc.,  and  thus  with 
many  other  prepositions.  The  use  of  the  prepositions  is  idio- 
matic, and  must,  like  all  idiomatic  expressions,  be  learned  by 
practice.  The  student  should  rely  on  the  training  of  his  ear  to 
the  use  of  the  proper  prepositions,  as  we  advised  him  to  do  with 
the  gender,  plural,  and  declension  of  nouns,  etc. 

Advanced  students  will  find  the  use  of  the  prepositions 
exhaustively  treated  in  large  grammars  (published  in  Germany, 
as  Heyse's,  and  others),  which  they  may  use  as  books  of  refer- 
ence. 

PREPOSITIONS  GOVERNING  THE  GENITIVE, 

anftatt,  instead  of  ftott,  instead  of 

cwftcrfyalb,  without,  outside  trot3,  in  spite  of 

btesfett,  on  this  side  of  um — nnllen,  for  the  sake  of 

entlang,  along  unfern,  not  far  from 
fyalb,  fyalben,  Ijalber,  on  account  of     ungeacijtet,  notwithstanding 

utnerfjalb,  within,  inside  of  unterijalb,  below 

jcnfeit,  on  the  other  side  of  uitnoett,  not  far  from 

trait,  by  virtue  of  ttermtttelft,  by  means  of 

Icings,  along  ttcrmbge,  by  virtue  of 

Idilt,  according  tttafyrcnb,  during 

mtttclft,  mittcls,  by  means  of  ttcgen,  on  account  of 

obcrl)dlb,  above  gitfolcje,  in  pursuance  of 

NOTE.  Gntlana,  uncjcadUct,  tsccjen,  and  jufolgc,  may  precede  or  follow  their  objects ; 
tyal&en  or  futber  alwaj-s  follows  its  object.  §aI6  is  rarely  used  except  in  the  compounds 
tcjjbalb,  therefore,  and  rocjjfyallj,  wherefore.  The  object  of  um— tuiUen  is  inserted  after 
um;  as,  um  bc3  j&immcIS  irttten,  for  heaven's  sake. 

On  the  contraction  of  balben,  irccjen,  um — nntten,  with  the  genitive  of  personal  pro- 
nouns, see  page  54. 

Gntlano.,  Idt^,  trcfc,  and  jufclge,  are  sometimes  used  with  the  dative ;  jufolcjc  always 
governs  the  dative  when  it  follows  the  object ;  as,  Hcfem  Sefe^le  jufot^e,  in  pursuance 
of  this  order. 


THE    PREPOSITION.  109 

In  such  expressions  as  ben  ftlujj  enticing,  along  the  river,  the  accusative  must  be 
considered  as  the  case  used  to  denote  measure,  extent,  etc.  (see  Remarks,  page  42), 
entlang  being-  used  as  an  adverb.  In  the  same  way  we  must  explain  the  use  of  the 
accusative  with  other  adverbs  ;  as,  ben  glujj  tyinafc,  down  the  river  ;  ben  glup  tyinauf, 
up  the  river,  etc. 

PREPOSITIONS  GOVERNING  THE  DATIVE. 

cms,  out  of  nad)ft,  next  to 

auger,  outside  of,  except  iteb)t,  together  with 

bet,  near,  "with  ob,  obcr  (obs.  ),  over 

btnncn,  within  fammt,  together  with 

cntgefjen,  towards,  against  feit,  since,  for 

fjegeniibcr,  opposite  Don,  of,  from,  by 

flemajj,  in  conformity  with  gu,  to 

mit,  with  gunad)ft,  next  to 

ttacf),  after,  to  3itttnbcr,  against 

NOTE,  ©ecjenuber  and  gemcifj  usually  follow  their  objects  ;  entgegen  and  juwtbcr  are 
always  placed  after  their  objects. 

PREPOSITIONS  GOVERNING  THE  ACCUSATIVE. 
bt$,  till,  as  far  as  oljne,  without 

bnrd),  through,  by  fonbcr,  without 

fiir,  for  um,  around 

(gen)  toward  n)ibcr,  against 


PREPOSITIONS  GOVERNING  THE  DATIVE  OR  ACCUSATIVE. 
an,  on,  at  in,  in,  into  untcr,  under,  among 

auf,  on,  upon  neben,  near,  by  the  side  of     t)  or,  before 

In'nter,  behind  iiber,  over,  above  gnrifdjen,  between 

These  prepositions  govern  the  dative  when  they  answer  the  question 
where?  and  the  accusative  when  they  answer  the  question  whither? 
Consequently,  they  govern  the  dative  when  the  verb  of  the  sentence 
denotes  a  state  of  rest  ;  as,  id)  bin  tm  (in  bcm)  Dimmer,  I  am  (where?) 
in  the  room  ;  also,  when  motion  within  certain  limits  is  expressed  ;  as, 
id)  (jelje  itn  3^mmcr  aitf  un^  a^  I  walk  to  and  fro  (where  ?}  in  the  room. 
They  govern  the  accusative  when  the  verb  of  the  sentence  expresses 
motion  towards  a  point;  as,  id)  fjcljc  inS  (in  ba6)  3intmer,  I  go  (whither?) 
into  the  room.  Thus,  also,  ba$  2fteffer  liegt  aitf  betn  Xtfdje,  the  knife 
lies  on  the  table,  id)  Icge  beS  SJleffer  auf  ben  Sijrf),  I  lay  the  knife  on  the 


110  THE    PREPOSITION. 

table;  id}  ftelje  gutter  Mr,  I  stand  behind  you;  id)  ftellc  micf)  fyintcr  bid), 
I  place  myself  behind  you,  etc. 

When  the  relation  denoted  by  any  of  these  prepositions  does  not 
refer  to  locality,  the  foregoing  rule  will,  nevertheless,  often  guide  the 
student  in  the  use  of  the  proper  case;  as,  icf)  ttcfyme  5lntf)cU  an  tfym 
(dat. ),  I  take  an  interest  in  him  (the  feeling  of  interest  rests,  as  it  were, 
in  my  heart) ;  iff)  benfe  immcr  an  tfyn  (ace.),  I  always  think  of  him  (my 
thoughts  are  directed  towards  him).  There  are,  however,  many  instances 
in  which  the  foregoing  rule  cannot  be  applied;  ail  f  and  iiber  are,  then, 
generally  used  with  the  accusative,  an,  in,  n  n  t  c  r ,  and  3  tt>  t  f tf)  c  n ,  with 
the  dative  case ;  to  which,  however,  there  are  many  exceptions  that 
are  best  learned  by  practice.  3$  o  r  always  governs  the  dative,  except 
when  it  refers  to  locality  and  answers  the  question  whither? 


GOVERNMENT  OF  ADJECTIVES  AND  VERBS. 

It  may  be  appropriate  here  to  comment  upon  the  government  of 
adjectives  and  verbs,  already  alluded  to  under  "Cases"  (page  32), 
since  this  subject  is  kindred  to  the  government  of  prepositions,  and 
our  remarks  will  be  so  few  as  to  make  it  unnecessary  to  open  a  separate 
chapter  for  them. 

In  German,  the  genitive  and  dative  often  depend  upon  or, 
as  grammarians  have  it,  are  "  governed "  by  adjectives  and 
verbs.  The  relation  denoted  by  the  genitive  and  dative  is,  in 
many  instances,  denoted  in  English  by  the  prepositions  of  and 
to,  respectively,  and  we  then  in  German  simply  place  the  object 
of  the  English  preposition  in  the  genitive  or  dative,  without  a 
preposition;  as,  he  is  tired  of  life,  cr  tft  bc$  8ebcn§  Jttiibc  ; 
the  children  are  obedient  to  their  parents,  btC  $tnbcr  fitlb  ben 

(SItcrn  gcfyorfam ;  they  robbed  him  of  his  money,  fie  bcraubten 

t()lt  f  ehtcS  @elbe$  ;   he  brings  (to)  me  (indirect  object)  my 
books,  cr  brtngt  mir  mctnc  93iid)er. 

But  not  with,  all  adjectives  and  verbs  are  we  thus  guided  by 
the  English  preposition  in  determining  the  case  which  they 
govern ;  frequently  of  and  to  must  be  rendered  by  German 


THE    PREPOSITION.  Ill 


prepositions  ;  as,  to  die  of  a  disease,  an  Ctlter  Sranffyett  ftetktt* 
(For  examples  with  to  see  page  108).  On  the  other  hand, 
some  adjectives  and  verbs,  which,  in  German,  govern  the  gen- 
itive or  dative  are  not  followed  by  the  prepositions  of  or  to  in 
English  ;  as,  be$  8(Utbe3  fttnbtg,  acquainted  with  the  country  ; 

cr  tft  mtr  bofe,  he  is  angry  with  me;  id)  criunere  midt)  bc3 

£dQC$,   I  remember  the  day;  etc, 

Many  verbs,  especially,  which  correspond  to  English  transi- 
tives,  take  the  dative  .as  their  sole  object  ;  as, 

begeijncn,  to  meet  l)dfcn,  to  help 

btcncn,  to  serve  pciffcn,  to  fit 

folgen,  to  follow  fdjabcn,  to  injure 

gdiorcf)en,  to  obey  fcfymctcfyeln,  to  flatter 

geljorcn,1)  to  belong  ttnberfhljen,  to  resist 
and  many  others, 

Such  verbs  are,  in  Gj-erman,  intransitive;  but  some  may  be  used, 
impersonally,  in  the  passive  ;  as,  e6  uwrbe  ifym  gefyolfcn,  he  was  helped, 
(not  cr  roitrbe  gefyolfcn). 

With  somo  JSnglish  verbs,  the  indirect  object  in  the  active  is  made 
the  subject  in  the  passive  voice  ;  as,  they  gave  him  permission  ;  he  was 
given  permission.  In  German,  the  indirect  object  must  remain  in  the 
dative;  as,  bte  (Srlaubmjj  nnirbe  tljm  gcgeben,  or  e§  tnurbe  tljm  bte  (Srlaitb= 


Some  adjectives  and  verbs  may  be  used  with  a  certain  case  or  with 
a  preposition;  as,  cr  tft  jebeS  23crbrecf)ctt3  fabtg  or  cr  tft  311  jebcm 
25crbrcd)cn  \afy$,  he  is  capable  of  every  crime;  ti)  benfe  betner  or  t^ 
benfc  an  bid),  I  think  of  you. 

Others  may  be  used  with  either  of  two  cases  ;  as,  f  cfjotte  m  e  t  U  C  r  or 
f  d^onc  m  t  d)  ,  spare  me. 

The  object  of  a  German  transitive  verb  is  in  the  accusative. 

1)  When  gef)6ren  signifies  to  be  a  part  of,  the  English  preposition  to  is  translated  by 
the  German  gu;  as,  biefer  $art  getyort  ju  fccrStafct,  this  park  belongs  to  the  city  (is  within 
the  city  limits)  ;  He^r  $arf  gefyort  bet  <Stabt  would  mean  that  it  is  the  property  of  the 
city. 


112  THE    CONJUNCTION. 

The  students  will  ask  now  :  "  How  are  we  to  learn  which 
case  is  required  with  a  given  adjective  or  verb  ?  " 

The  answer  is  :  As  the  choice  of  the  proper  preposition  to 
denote  a  certain  relation,  thus  also  the  use  of  the  proper  cases 
" governed"  by  adjectives  and  verbs  is  best  learned  by  practice, 
even  as  a  German  studying  the  English  language  has  to  learn 
the  prepositions  required  in  English. 

In  many  dictionaries  the  cases  governed  by  adjectives  and  verbs  are 
marked,  in  the  following  or  a  similar  manner ;  as,  fltnbicj  (gen.);  bejCQUClt 
(dat. ),  etc.;  or  the  case  is  apparent  from  idiomatic  expressions  given 
with  the  word ;  and  large  German  grammars  (used  in  Germany)  contain 
complete  lists  of  all  adjectives  and  verbs  governing  the  genitive  or 
dative ;  these  may  be  referred  to  by  advanced  students. 


TJIE    CONJUNCTION. 

(£>ie  Conjunction  or  ba§  £nnbett)ort.) 

The  following  are  the  principal 

CO-ORDINATE  CONJUNCTIONS. 

abcr,  but  (je— )  befto,  (the—)  the 

aUcin,  but  inbefjcn,  meanwhile,  however 

djO,  consequently  jcbod),  yet,  however 

and),  also  mitfjtn,  consequently 

balb— balb,  at  one  time — at  another   namlid),  namely,  to  wit 

bal)er,  barum,  therefore  obcr,  or 

bcnn,  for,  than  fonad),  therefore 

bcttnod),  nevertheless  fotibern,  but 

bei"ieitungead)tet,  nevertheless  fott)ol)t — al£,  as  well — as 

bcgfyalb,  bcgmcgcn,  therefore  imb,  and 

bod),  yet,  still  tocber— nod),  neither— nor 

entrcebcr — ober,  either — or 


THE    CONJUNCTION.  113 

The  following  are  the  principal 

SUBORDINATE  CONJUNCTIONS. 

d$,  when,  than,  except  fett,  fettbem,  since 

dig  ob,  as  if  fobalb  al£,  as  soon  as 

ailf  baft,  in  order  that  fo  oft  al$,  as  often  as 

bi$,  until  um  JU  (with  inf. )  in  order  to 

ba,  as,  since  ftafyrenb,  while 

batmt,  in  order  that  tDCinn,  when 

baft,  that  tneil,  because 

d)C,  before  ttKlttt,  when,  if 

falls,  in  case  tt)cnn  nid)t,  unless 

tnbem,  as,  while  uicjjljaib,  tDcftlDcgcn,  wherefore 

je  (— bcfto)  the  (—the)  U50,  where 

nadjbem,  after  uiofern,  if,  provided 

ob,  whether  3fr>ar,  indeed 

obgletcf),  obfcfyon,  obtooljl,  although 

REMARKS.  1. — SBann,  al3  wcnn,  when.  SSann  is  an  interrogative  adverb  and 
only  used  as  a  conjunction  in  indirect  questions ;  as,  fc^en  @ic  mir,  warm  @te  ju  £>aufe 
finb,  tell  me  when  you  are  at  home.  2U8  is  used  when  definite  time  is  referred  to  and 
the  verb  of  the  clause  is  in  the  past  or  past  perfect;  as,  al^er  mid)  fcefud)te,  bracfyte  cr  mir 
biefeS  23ud),  when  he  visited  me,  he  brought  me  this  book.  In  all  other  cases  when  is 
rendered  by  ujettn ;  as,  id)  effe,  tcenn  id)  tyuncjrig  bin,  I  eat  when  I  am  hungry ;  also  when 
the  verb  is  in  the  past  or  past  perfect,  but  does  not  refer  to  definite  time ;  as,  frfil)cr 
frcute  id)  mid)  immer,  rcenn  er  jit  mir  Earn,  formerly  I  was  always  glad  when  (whenever) 
he  came  to  me. 

Observe  that  roenn  is  also  used  in  the  sense  of  if.  2Benn  is  often  omitted,  and  then 
the  subject  is  placed  after  the  verb  (see  "Arrangement  of  Words");  as,  tcenn  id)  &\t 
fycittc,  or  fydtte  id)  fy\t,  if  I  had  time. 

2.— CDcnn  means  for,  in  the  sense  of  since,  because.  It  is  sometimes  used  instead  of 
al3,  than  (see  page  40),  though  rarely,  except  in  order  to  avoid  the  repetition  of  al3 ; 
as,  cr  tft  grower  al§  Oftebner,  b  cnn  at  8  (5d)riftftefler,  he  is  greater  as  an  orator  than  as  an 
author. 

3. — When  a  subordinate  sentence,  especially  one  beginning  with  a  causal,  con- 
ditional, or  concessive  conjunction,  such  as  weil,  ba,  roenn,  ofcrooljt  K.,  precedes  the 
principal  sentence,  the  latter  is  often  introduced  by  the  adverb  fo,  which  can  not  be 
translated  into  English ;  as,  roetl  cr  arm  ift,  \  o  I)at  cr  teine  5^eun^e/  because  he  is  poor, 
he  has  no  friends;  rccnn  id)  3eit  f>dtte,  fo  nwrbe  id)  <Sic  oftcr  befud)en,  if  I  had  time, 
I  should  visit  you  more  frequently.  But  we  may  also  say  roetl  cr  arm  ift,  f)at  cr  2C. ;  n?enn 
id)  3eit  tyatte,  lofirbe  id)  ic.;  without  f  o.  However,  when  tuenn  is  omitted  (see  above),  it 
is  better  to  use  fo:  as,  l)atte  id)  Qtii,  f  o  roft.bc  id)  :c.,  is  better  than  1)atte  id)  3cit,  wfirbc 
id)  jc. 


114  THE    INTERJECTION.  5 

4. — Sifter,  attetn,  fcnbcrn,  but.  ?tfter  is  used  when  the  English  but  may  be  replaced 
by  yet,  still,  or  however  ;  \  onbcrn  is  used  when  the  sentence  introduced  by  but  con- 
tains a  contradiction  of  the  preceding  statement,  and  but  might  be  replaced  by  on  the 
contrary ;  fonbetn  is  always  preceded  by  a  negation;  as,  cr  ift  arm,  after  efjrltd),  he  is 
poor,  but  (yet)  he  is  honest ;  cr  ift  nicfyt  reid),  after  er  i)l  fretvjefticj,  he  is  not  rich,  but  (still, 
however)  he  is  liberal;  cr  ift  ntd)t  reid),  fonbern  arm,  he  is  not  rich,  but  (on  the  contrary) 
poor.  Sometimes  the  use  of  after  or  jonbern  depends  on  the  emphasis  laid  on  certain 
words ;  as,  id)  rcetjj  e3  ntd)t  ftefthnmt,  after  id)  glaufte  e§,  I  do  not  know  it  for  a  certainty, 
but  I  believe  it;  id)  wetp  e3  nidjt  fteftimmt,  fonbern  id)  glaufte  e3  nur,  I  do  not  know  it 
for  a  certainty,  but  (on  the  contrary)  I  only  believe  it.  <5onbern  contradicts  the  pre- 
ceding statement,  after  simply  adds  to  it. 

^Ittetn  restricts  the  foregoing  statement,  more  so  than  after;  but  after  may  always 
be  used  in  place  of  attein. 

5. — 3Ifter,  alfo,  inbcffen,  jebodj,  and  ndmltd),  are  often  placed  after  the  subject  or  after 
the  verb ;  as,  cr  after  ifl  nidjt  retdj,  he,  however,  is  not  rich ;  er  ifl  after  nidjt  retd),  he  is, 
however,  not  rich  ;  etc. 


THE    INTERJECTION. 

(£)te  Interjection  or  ba$  GmpfinbnngSmort) 

The  interjections  in  common  use  are  found  in  every  diction- 
ary, and  other  parts  of  speech  are  frequently  used  as  inter- 
jections, as  in  English. 

Here  follo\v  a  few  interjections  by  way  of  examples;  as, 

$d),  af) !  ah  !  o  ttel) !  woe  ! 

ei !  why  !  tfui !  fie  ! 

Ijalt !  halt !  stop  !  plumps  !  plump  ! 

l)e!  Ijolla!  holla!  po^tcmjcnb!  zounds! 

letter !  alas,  unfortunately  fo  !  so  !  now  !  that's  right ! 

o,  ol) !  0,  oh  !  topp  !  agreed  ! 


ARRANGEMENT    OF   WORDS.  115 

ARRANGEMENT    OF    WORDS. 

('Die  SBortfoIge.) 

The  arrangement  of  words  in  the  sentence  is  in  German 
much  less  arbitrary  than  in  English  and  often  widely  differs 
in  the  two  languages.  The  principal  differences  will  be  here 
explained,  exceptional  deviations  from  the  usual  order  and 
especially  such  inversions  as  are  only  used  in  poetry  or  poetical 
style  cannot  be  noticed  in  a  work  of  this  size.  Whatever  is 
most  important  to  a  beginner  is  printed  in  italics. 

1. — In  the  declarative  sentence,  when  the  verb  consists  of 
but  one  word,  the  order  is,  1)  the  (logical)  subject ;  2)  the 
verb ;  3)  all  other  words  belonging  to  the  predicate ;  as,  er 
tft  f(eij}ig,  he  is  diligent ;  cr  fditft  Clit  £)CW$,  he  buys  a  house ; 

cr  gab  ifym  ein  -Sud),  he  gave  him  a  book. 

When,  however ',  the  verb  consists  of  an  auxiliary  and  a  parti- 
ciple or  infinitive  (in  the  compound  tenses),  all  other  words 
belonging  to  the  predicate  are  inserted'  after  the  auxiliary,  and 
the  participle  or  infinitive  is  placed  at  the  end  of  the  sentence; 
the  order  is  then,  1)  the  subject;  2)  the  auxiliary;  3)  all  words 
which,  beside  the  verb,  belong  to  the  predicate;  4)  and  last,  the 
participle  or  infinitive ;  as, 

er  tft  hnmer  fteiftig  ge  toe  fen, 

he  has    always    diligent        been; 

er  f)at  Ijciite  ein  §an$  getanft, 

he    has     to-day      a     house       bought ; 

er  tturb    if)in     morgcn    bas  33nd)  gcben, 

he     will    (to)  him  to-morrow     the     book        give. 

Not  only  fyaben,  jetn,  toerbcn,  and  the  auxiliaries  of  mood,  biirfcn, 
fonncn  K.f  but  all  verbs  which  have  an  infinitive  (without  511,  see 
infinitive,  page  101)  depending  on  them,  are  considered  as  auxiliaries, 
as  far  as  their  place  in  the  sentence  is  concerned;  as,  id)  Ijalf  ifjni  IjClttc 
jctnc  ^lufrjabc  mad) en,  I  helped  him  to  do  his  task  to-day. 


116  ARRANGEMENT    OF   WORDS. 

On  the  position  of  the  prefix  of  a  separable  compound  verb  see  " Compound  Verbs" 
(page  80).  In  such  expressions  as  2td?t  geben,  to  pay  attention,  ju  2Hittag  cfien,  to  dine, 
ju  ©tante  bringcn,  to  accomplish,  etc.,  the  words  Stdjt,  ju  9#ttta;j,  ju  Stanbe,  are  treated 
as  separable  prefixes,  as  regards  their  place  in  the  sentence ;  as,  gib  9ldjt',  pay  attention  ; 
nrir  cffcn  um  12  Ufyr  ju  SRtttag,  we  dine  at  12  o'clock ;  er  fctadjte  e3  eufclidj  p  <£tanbe,  ho 
accomplished  it  at  last. 

2. — In  the  interrogative  sentence  the  subject  is  placed  after 
the  verb  or,  when  the  verb  is  in  a  compound  tense,  after  the 
auxiliary;  as,  ift  er  fletf^ig?  is  he  diligent?  £cwft  Cr  eiu  £mt8  ? 
buys  he  a  house  (does  he  buy  a  house,  see  page  64)  1  §dt  cr 
ein  £)CW8  gdaitf t  ?  has  he  bought  a  house  ] 

This  inversion  also  takes  place  in  exclamatory  and  imperative  sen- 
tences, as  in  English.  (On  the  omission  of  the  subject  in  the  imperative 
sentence  see  page  101). 

The  subject  is  also  placed  after  the  verb  (or  auxiliary)  when- 
ever a  principal  sentence  begins  with  a  word  which  is  not  the 
subject  or  an  adjunct  of  the  subject,  or  when  the  sentence  is 
preceded  by  a  subordinate  sentence;  as, 

fjejkrn   toar  cr  fleigig, 

yesterday    was     he  diligent; 

er  tft  iticfjt  ftetgig,    bafycr  tntrb  er  ntc!)t3  lernen, 

he    is     not    diligent,  therefore    will      he  nothing    learn 

metn  £>au3  I) at  cr  nirfjt  getauft, 

my      house     has     he      not      bought ; 

al«  id)  nad)  §aiifc  fam,   fanb  ici)  fetnen  iBrief, 

when    I  hcme  came,    found      I          his       letter. 

After  the  conjunctions  nnb,  ober,  aber,  allein,  fonbern,  and  bcun,  the 
subject  retains  its  place  before  the  verb;  as,  cr  ttnrb  nicfytS  (erncn,  bcnn 
cr  ift  ntd)t  f(cifS^fj;  also  after  namlici)  (which,  however,  is  generally 
placed  after  the  subject,  cr  t"t  namltd)  K.f  see  j>age  114). 

The  subject  is  also  placed  after  the  verb  in  a  principal  sentence, 
preceded  by,  or  inserted  in,  another  principal  sentence  which  stands  to 
it  in  the  relation  of  an  object  or  complement ;  as,  id)  Voerbe  bid)  nie 
uertoffcn,  fagte  cr;  or  id)  tterbc,  fagte  cr,  bid)  nie  Derlaffen,!  shallnever 
desert  you,  he  said.  ,,9W)mt  cue!)  ntctncr  Jtinber  an!"  maren  fcinc 
Ic  1,5 ten  SBortc,  take  care  of  my  children,  were  his  last  words. 


ARRANGEMENT    OF    WORDS.  117 

In  the  above  examples,  the  sentences  ,,id)  toerbe  bid)  nie  tterkffen",  ,,nd)mt  end)  tneiner 
$inber  an",  would  be  treated  as  subordinate  substantive  clauses  by  many  English  gram- 
marians ;  in  German,  they  are  called  principal  sentences ;  the  arrangement  of  words  is 
not  that  of  subordinate  sentences  (see  below,  S.— ). 

The  subject  is  placed  after  the  verb,  when  the  conjunction  rcenn  is  omitted  (see 
page  113). 

3. — In  the  subordinate  sentence  the  verb  stands  at  the  end, 
and,  in  compound  tenses,  the  auxiliary  is  placed  after  the  par- 
ticiple or  infinitive  ;  as, 

u3eU   cr   immcr  fUtgtg  ift, 

because  he     always    diligent   is; 

al$  er  iljm  ba$  SBucfo  cjab, 

when  he    him    the     book   gave ; 

ber  Tlann,  bcr  bag  §au$  getcmft  Ijat, 

the      man     who  the    house    bought    has. 

id)  itjcijj,  bag  er  Ijeute  anfommcn  urirb, 

I     know   that  he  to-day        arrive          will. 

When  there  are  two  infinitives,  the  auxiliary  is  placed  immediately 
before  them;  as,  lr»eU  id)  eg  nid)t  fycitte  tl)itn  fotten,  because  I  should  not 
have  done  it. 

A  subordinate  sentence  is  introduced  by  a  subordinate  conjunction  (see  page  113),  a 
relative  pronoun  or  adverb  (see  page  62),  or  an  interrogative  pronoun  (provided  the 
question  is  indirect ;  as,  id)  fragte  ifyn,  rccr  ba  gercefen  fei.) 

When  bafe,  that,  is  omitted,  the  arrangement  is  that  of  the  declarative  sentence ; 
as,  er  jagte,  bafj  er  geftern  in  bcr  <2>tatt  gercefen  fei;  er  fagte,  cr  fei  geftcrn  in  bcr  ©tabt 
geiucfen. 

POSITION  OF  ADJUNCTS,    OBJECTS,  ETC. 

1. — The  position  of  the  adjective  elements  modifying  the  subject  or  any 
other  noun  in  the  sentence  is  either  the  same  as  in  English,  or  has  been 
already  explained.  (See  "Genitive",  page  32;  "Adjectives",  page  43.) 

Adverbial  modifiers  sometimes  follow  an  adjective  when  it  stands  in  the  predicate  or 
follows  the  noun  it  modifies ;  as,  metn  ftreunb  tear  untroftlidj  u&er  ben  93crl«fl,  my  friend 
was  inconsolable  over  the  loss ;  or,  mein  g'reunb,  untrcftltd)  fiber  ben  33erluft,  my  friend, 
inconsolable  etc.  But  when  the  adjective  is  used  attributively  and  precedes  the 
noun,  it  is  itself  preceded  by  all  its  modifiers ;  as,  mcin  fifcer  ben  23erluft  untroft!td)cr 
ftrcunb. 

©enug,  enough,  always  follows  the  adjective  it  modifies,  and  must  therefore  be 
rendered  by  a  word  of  similar  meaning  when  the  adjective  precedes  a  noun ;  as,  a  rich 
enough  man,  ein  InnlcmgUd)  reiser  Sftann  (not  cin  genug  reidjcr  $ftann). 


118  ARRANGEMENT    OF   WORDS. 

Of  several  adjectives  joined  attributively  to,  and  preceding,  a  noun,  tho  more 
important  or  emphatic  should  be  placed  nearer  to  the  noun  than  those  of  less  impor- 
tance ;  as,  mein  alter,  trcuer  Wiener,  my  faithful  old  servant  (my  old  and  faithful  servant). 
In  many  instances,  however,  they  may  be  arranged  arbitrarily. 

2. — Of  two  objects,  a  direct  and  an  indirect  one,  that  which  denotes 
a  person  is  generally  placed  before  that  which  denotes  a  thing ;  as, 
cr  fi)rcibt  fetnem  $ater  etnen  53rtef,  he  writes  a  letter  to  his  father ;  jtc 
brraubtcn  meinen  iBrnber  feineS  ©etbe?>,  they  robbed  my  brother  of  his 
money.  Prepositional  adjuncts  generally  follow  an  object-noun;  as, 
c:  idjretbt  cincn  23rtef  an  fetnen  2>ater. 

When  both  objects  are  personal,  the  accusative  stands  first ;  as,  i.1) 
tyabe  ben  £el)rer  meinem  greimbe  emfefolilcn,  I  have  recommended  the 
teacher  to  my  friend ;  unless  that  in  the  dative  is  emphasized  (see 
"Xote,"  next  page). 

When  one  of  two  objects  is  a  personal  pronoun,  it  precedes  the  other; 
as,  icf)  (jab:  c3  bem  $naben  gegeben,  I  have  given  it  to  the  boy ;  cr  fyat 
tljm  ben  £e!)rcr  cmpfofylen ;  when  both  objects  are  personal  pronouns,  the 
accusative  generally  precedes  the  dative  or  genitive;  as,  icf)  fyabe  C3  ifym 
gejeijt,  I  have  shown  it  to  him;  et  fyat  fid)  feiner  ertnnert,  he  has  remem- 
bered him. 

Personal  pronouns,  used  as  objects  of  verbs,  precede  a!l  adverbial  elements. 

3.  — The  complement  of  an  intransitive  verb  generally  stands  at  the 
end  of  the  sentence  (or  immediately  before  the  participle  or  infinitive) ; 
as,  er  ift  in  bcr  (Sdjule  anf  inert  fain,  ttnrb  in  ber  Sdjule  aufmcrffom 
few. 

4. — The  arrangement  of  the  adverbial  elements  among  themselves 
and  with  objects  is  often  arbitrary;  at  any  rate,  it  is  best  learned 
by  practice.  The  following  remarks  on  the  usual  arrangement  may 
be  of  some  assistance : 

Of  the  adverbial  elements,  those  denoting  time  usually  stand  first, 
then  come  those  denoting  place,  and  last  those  denoting  manner,  degree, 
etc. ;  as,  id)  Ijabe  mid)  fyeiite  in  ber  ®tabt  fefyr  gut  nnterfyaltcn,  I  have 
amused  myself  very  well  in  the  city  to-day. 

Of  two  or  more  adverbial  expressions  of  the  same  kind  those  making  a  more 
particular  statement  usually  follow  the  more  general;  as,  icft  ftanb  Ticute  urn  funf  Ufa 
auff  I  rose  to-day  at  five  o'clock  ;  cr  iflofmt  in  ber  9Jto$artflraBC,  ?2o.  !•">,  he  lives  at 
Mozart  Street. 


ARRANGEMENT    OF   WORDS.  119 

Objects  generally  follow  adverbial  expressions  of  time  and  precede 
those  of  manner  ;  as,  id)  Ijabe  t)eute  metnen  greunb  bcfndjt,  I  have  visited 
my  friend  to-day;  id)  Ijabe  ba§  23ud)  mtt  23ergniigen  gclefen,  I  have  read 
the  book  with  pleasure. 

Sfttdjt  is  usually  placed  at  the  end  of  the  sentence,  or  before  the  participle  (or 
infinitive),  except  when  it  refers  to  a  particular  word,  which  it  then  precedes  ;  as,  id) 
einen  sBruber  fyeute  tttcfyt  gcfefyen;  id)  fyafee  ifyn  ttidjt  Ijeute  gefeljen,  fonbern  geftern. 


NOTE.  The  position  of  a  word  or  phrase  in  the  sentence  often 
depends  upon  its  relative  importance,  or  even,  cceteris  paribus,  upon  its 
length;  emphatic  words  are  placed  after  those  of  minor  importance, 
long  words  or  phrases  are  placed  after  short  words;  as,  id)  beflld)te  I)eute 
metnen  greunb;  icf)  befucfjte  metnen  greunb  fyeiite,  mcl)t  geftern.  —  3d) 
nrill  jet^t  (time)  in  meinem  3intmer  (place)  auf  i^n  toarlen;  id)  toitt  i^n 
l)tcr  (place)  um  5  il^r  5lbenb6  (time)  crvoarten.  —  3^  lei^e  3fynen  ba§  S3nd) 
(object)  mtt  bem  grbftten  iBerflniicjen  (manner);  id^  letfje  3!jnen  gern 
(manner)  btcfc§  fdjoite  33ud)  (object). 

This  explains,  also,  whjr  personal  pronouns,  not  emphasized  or  preceded  by  a  prep- 
osition, are  placed  before  all  objects  and  adverbial  elements. 


YB  01436 


926693 


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